


Faerie Chronicles

by Raberba girl (Raberba_girl)



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-05-05
Updated: 2013-03-28
Packaged: 2017-12-25 00:59:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 169,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raberba_girl/pseuds/Raberba%20girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Incomplete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose: Chapter 1 - Maiden & Warrior

The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Fairy tale / fantasy series. A Beast is transformed by the love of a Beauty, but their happy ending is interrupted by a terrible enchantment laid on their son. While seeking to rescue him, Kenshin & Kaoru are nearly torn apart, and even after being reconciled in the end, Kenshin must face the fact that he will not get to keep Kaoru forever. How can they stay together when time itself is against them?

**_Part 1: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ **

Summary:  Based on "Beauty and the Beast." Kaoru meets the frightening warrior Battousai on the night of a snowstorm. They soon part ways, neither of them realizing that the other is hiding secrets which will bring them together again.

 

**Prologue**

 

 _'What a miserable night,'_ Kaoru thought.  She huddled deeper into the blankets she had wrapped herself in.

 

Inside the little house, where she sat in front of a merrily crackling fire, it seemed cozy despite the inadequate warmth.  Outside, however, a snowstorm raged and howled, whistling at the cracks in the walls. Kaoru did not envy anyone, man or beast, who had not found shelter before the clouds descended.

 

_Thump._

 

Kaoru jumped at a sound she had never expected to hear in weather like this.  Was someone knocking to get in?  How could that be?  Before Kaoru could even move to get up, the door suddenly crashed open, its wooden latch broken.  Kaoru scrambled to her feet, mouth gaping.

 

A fearsome figure stood framed in the doorway, clutching a sword in one hand.  A mane of red hair blew about in the wind, tattered clothes flapped wildly, a huge scar blazed luridly on one cheek, and a pair of the fiercest eyes Kaoru had ever seen glittered menacingly at her.

 

For one long moment, they stared at one another.  Then, just when Kaoru noticed blood dripping to the ground, his eyes closed; his legs buckled, and he collapsed full-length on the floor.

 

**Chapter 1 - Maiden & Warrior**

 

Even unconscious, he would not let go of the sword.  The last thing Kaoru wanted to do was let a dangerous stranger into her home, much less take half his clothes off to get to the source of the blood, yet she very well couldn't kick him back out into the snow.

 

So she closed the door again and tied it shut, then dragged her visitor over to the fire.  It was difficult to move him, of course, but much less than she expected; for a warrior, he was surprisingly light and slender.  Once she had situated him as comfortably as she could, she set about cleaning and bandaging the wound slashed across his back.  She also had to treat numerous smaller injuries over the rest of his body, most looking as if they had been inflicted by a blade.

 

When this task was done, she covered him with the spare blanket and then huddled back down on the other side of the fire, certain she would not be able to sleep for fear of waking up to find that her throat was being slit, or that she had been robbed, or....

 

The next morning, she was startled awake by a thudding sound, such as a small log would make when dumped onto a fire.  Kaoru shot upright, staring frantically for a minute before she realized that there was no danger - at least, for the moment.  "Um...I don't think you should be up," she told him.  "That wound looked pretty bad."

 

He eyed her warily from where he stood by the fire, both his weapons now sheathed at his waist.  He reached hesitantly over his shoulder, towards the bandaging, then dropped his hand.  "You did this?" he asked.  His voice was gruff, but surprisingly soft as well, as if it was deepened by something other than natural tenor.

 

Kaoru swallowed and nodded, wondering if he would be angry with her - for touching him, or seeing him in a moment of weakness, or any number of reasons.

 

To her relief, he only looked away and said quietly, "Thank you."  After an awkward moment, he gestured at the door.  "I'm...sorry for breaking the latch.  I needed to get inside."

 

"Oh!  It's all right, really, please don't worry about it," Kaoru said quickly, wondering why he sounded so apologetic.  "I'd much rather deal with a broken latch than find out that a man froze to death on my doorstep.  I-I mean...."  She had not meant to bring attention to his weakness again.  She knew the lengths a warrior might go to preserve an image of ultimate strength.

 

Again, however, he took no offense, simply nodding in acknowledgement of her statement.

 

Kaoru cleared her throat nervously.  "Um...what's your name?" she asked.  Then she added quickly, "I'm Kaoru, by the way."  No need to add her family name.  "But you don't have to tell me yours if you don't want to, I just thought--"

 

"Battousai."

 

She blinked.  "Eh?"

 

He looked away.  "I know it is a strange name."  Then his expression hardened, and he looked back at her squarely.  "But that is who I am now."

 

Kaoru shivered; she couldn't help it.  He had so far made no move to hurt or threaten her, but all the same, he was frightening.  Something about those eyes...so cold and pitiless, she could easily imagine him plunging a sword into living flesh with no hesitation or remorse.

 

"Do you have a hair-tie, Kaoru-dono?"

 

The question took her completely by surprise.  "P-Pardon me?"

 

He smiled a little, which softened his cold eyes.  "It's a bit inconvenient like this."  He reached up to indicate the tangled, fiery-red hanks of hair spilling over his back and shoulders.

 

"Oh!  Of course."  Then she hesitated.  "Why did you call me that?"  Did he know?  Should she have given him a false name altogether?

 

"Ah.  It is a habit of mine.  Forgive me if it bothers you...Kaoru-dono."  Clearly he was not going to stop, whether the honorific bothered her or not.

 

Kaoru smiled nervously and hurried to her keepsake box, grabbing the first tie she found.  It was only as she held it out to him that she realized, to her mortification, that her rushed choice turned out to be a fluffy pink ribbon.

 

Just as she was opening her mouth to stammer out an apology, he turned his back to her, gathered up his masses of hair, and waited.  Hesitantly, Kaoru moved forward and reached to wrap the ribbon around his makeshift ponytail.  His hair smelled of old sweat and melted snow, an odor that made her think of fierce battles under the open sky.

 

"Do you fight a lot?" she asked softly.

 

He did not reply for a moment, then said, "Too much."  He turned to face her, and Kaoru had to clap her hands to her mouth to stifle a burst of laughter.  He looked ridiculous - a hardened, battle-scarred warrior wearing a girly hair ribbon.

 

"Is something wrong?"  He frowned, a sight which frightened all the laughter out of her.

 

"N-Nothing," she stammered.  That face was terrifying.  She wondered how whoever had wounded him had had the nerve to cut such a monster.

 

Then his expression changed.  "Kaoru-dono," he whispered.  "Please don't look at me that way.  I mean you no harm.  I know how I must appear to someone like you, but please, you need fear nothing from me."

 

This time she was the one to frown.  "What do you mean, someone like me?" she demanded.

 

He smiled a little, to her relief.  "Well...it cannot be pleasant for someone as naturally beautiful as you to have to look at a face like mine."

 

Her cheeks went hot.  "I-- You-- You look _fine_.  Especially when you smile, so you should smile more."  Embarrassed, she pushed past him and grabbed the bucket by the door.  "I'm going out to milk the cow," she muttered.  "Don't wreck anything while I'm gone."

 

He didn't.  In fact, when she came back, he was setting out bowls for both of them, having taken it upon himself to make breakfast while she was out.  Staring at his almost housewifely handiwork, Kaoru wondered what kind of a man this was, who could wield a sword and glare with such ferocity, yet prepare a meal more delicious than anything _she_ could have managed.  All the while sporting a pink ribbon in his hair, too.

 

It was a shame, she thought, that she would not have a chance to get to know him better.  Now that the storm was over, he was likely to be on his way soon, and undoubtedly she would never see him again.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Note:  The idea of Kaoru tying a pink ribbon in Kenshin's hair (Kenshin being oblivious to the oddity) is a reference to Watsuki-sensei's RuroKen side-story "Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story" (the one included in volume 1).  I thought it was a cute image, and stuck it in when I saw the chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 2 - Blade & Fists**

 

Kaoru was eating a breakfast consisting of the last of the rice and...the last of the rice.  "It's too cold to go out running errands," she grumbled.  "Where are friendly elves to re-stock the larder when you need them?"

 

She sighed.  It was lonely in the little cottage these days.  Of course she missed Kasshin and was still grieving for him after the accident; he was the one who had offered her a place to stay, after all.  Yet she could not help missing him for selfish reasons, as well.  The last time she had heard the sound of a human voice other than her own had been a day or so ago, when that warrior had crashed in from the storm.  Before that, it had been weeks.

 

Speaking of the warrior, Kaoru wondered what he was up to.  Almost, she had let him leave with that silly ribbon still in his hair, but at the last minute, she had decided it would probably be wiser to make him trade it for a more reasonable one.

 

"Kaoru-chan," she told herself sternly, "supplies are not going to magically appear while you sit here daydreaming.  Time to get to work."

 

She finished the morning's chores, then set out on the long walk to the village.  The crisp, clear air and frosty landscape would have been very pleasant if it wasn't so _cold_.  Kaoru had bundled up in several layers, but the chill seemed to cut through anyway, especially when the wind picked up to sting at her face and other bits of exposed skin.

 

She began to whistle, partly to fill the silence and partly to take her mind off the cold.  Again, she found herself longing for Kasshin's grandfatherly companionship; the trip had seemed so much shorter when they used to make it together.

 

Kaoru was thoroughly frozen by the time she reached the village.  She decided to stop by Mama Sohma's house first, knowing that the plump matron loved to chat and would be pleased to entertain a visitor.  Kaoru spent an enjoyable half hour or so warming up in front of the Sohmas' fire, listening to Mama chatter on and on.

 

"...So then there's that rat sittin' smugly up there in the tree with that dern cat clawin' and scratchin' for all he's worth and can't get high enough to reach it...ah, lordy, wasn't Tohru-chan laughin' so hard!"  The talkative woman kept busy the entire time, occasionally interrupting herself to bawl good-naturedly at the small children who always seemed to be underfoot.

 

Eventually, Kaoru put down the knife she had been using to help chop vegetables, picked up the dried fish she had come to buy, and excused herself.  "Mama, I'd love to stay longer, but I'm afraid I must be going now.  I won't be able to make it home before dark if I let you talk your fill."

 

Mama Sohma burst into hearty laughter at Kaoru's rendition of a joke she was quite accustomed to hearing.  "Go on then, girl, go on, don't let Mama talk yer ear off."

 

Kaoru was smiling as she went back out, thinking rather wistfully that it would be nice to have someone like Mama Sohma for a real mother.  Kaoru had almost no memories of her own, who had died when she was very small.  Shaking her head to turn her thoughts back to the task at hand, she scanned the street, wondering leisurely what she ought to pick up next.

 

Then her eyes fell on the tavern, and she stopped cold.  Someone she knew quite well was just stepping through its doorway, calling over his shoulder as he did so.  "Sano-kun!  Let's go already, you've had enough to drink!"

 

Kaoru fled.  For a few breathless seconds she thought that she might have escaped, that somehow he had not seen her.  Then she heard the sound of his footsteps behind her - no one could mistake that inhuman speed - and she realized with a flash of anger at herself that she should not have run away.  There was a chance, if she had stayed casual, that Sôjirô might not have noticed her, but now, it was too late.

 

She felt his hands on her shoulders and screamed out of pure reflex.

 

"I was right!" he exclaimed as he pulled her to a halt.  "Kaoru-hime!  It _is_ you!"  His face lit up, in that childishly sly way of his, as he finally got a good look at her.  "Sano-kun!" he called.  "It's the princess!"

 

Kaoru's other bodyguard come pounding up.  "You _found_ her!" he gasped, his face full of incredulity.  He swore, then raged happily at her, "We spend _months_ looking for you, and you don't show up 'til _now_ , when we're on a completely different mission?"

 

"Nice to see you again, bird-head," she snapped.  "Was it so hard for you two to just pretend like you didn't see me?"

 

Sôjirô laughed.  "You know you would have been caught eventually, Prin--"

 

"Let her go."

 

Kaoru looked behind Sôjirô, and gasped.  "You!" she exclaimed.  It was that man - Battousai.  He stood with a terrible grim look on his face, a naked sword in each hand; the tip of one just brushed the back of Sôjirô's neck, while the other was held to Sanosuke's.

 

"What the--?!"  Sanosuke swore, wondering how on earth they had been taken by surprise.

 

"Let her go," the red-haired warrior repeated, his voice like pure steel.

 

Sôjirô smiled, unfazed.  "You again.  Did you not learn your lesson?  You're not going to escape this time, Battousai."

 

"You're the guy!" Sanosuke sputtered.  "The night of the snowstorm!  You're still alive?!"

 

Kaoru stepped away from Sôjirô as realization hit her.  " _You_ did that?" she gasped.  "That wound on his back...."  She had been puzzled at how Battousai, who appeared to be such a fell warrior, had taken an injury from behind - it was no wonder, if his opponent had been Sôjirô.

 

The young man chuckled.  "Was it you who patched him up, then?  How ironic, Kaoru-hime, that you would care for the wounds of a man who came to this country to assassinate your father."

 

Kaoru gaped at him.  " _What_ did you say?"

 

"Kaoru...-hime?"  Battousai's voice sounded oddly strangled.  Kaoru turned to see that his arms had dropped down, the swords dangling as if they had become almost too heavy to hold.

 

"You're trying to kill my father?" she demanded, hardly able to believe it.

 

He was staring at her as if she had grown a second head.  "The princess.  You're the princess."

 

"Enough with the introductions," Sanosuke growled, pounding his fists together.  "Get back, Princess.  We're taking this guy down."

 

"I'm not done yet!" Kaoru shouted at him.  Then she glared.  "You're going to kill a man in front of me, Sagara Sanosuke?"

 

"Better dirty your eyes than let you get killed," he shot back.

 

Battousai's grip on the swords tightened convulsively as he glared at Sanosuke.  "I would never slay a woman."

 

"Not even under orders?" Sôjirô wondered slyly.

 

Battousai's eyes were burning gold as they looked at him.  "No."  Then he sheathed his weapons in a deliberate manner, took a deep breath, and turned to Kaoru.  She noticed uneasily that his eyes had faded back to blue.  "Princess," he said quietly, "your father will not die by my hand."  He shook his head.  "There is no need, now that you have been found."

 

"But you were still going to assassinate him if I _hadn't_ been found?"

 

His gaze was steady as he met her eyes, though strangely sad.  "Yes."

 

Kaoru stumbled away, suddenly unable to bear the sight of him, or even of Sanosuke and Sôjirô, who were also men of violence.

 

"Wrong way, Princess," Sanosuke called after her.

 

"I'm not going home!" she shouted.  "I am not marrying that man, even if it _does_ supposedly mean peace for the country!"

 

There was a moment of silence.  "Can I beat him up now?" Sanosuke finally complained, jerking a thumb at the motionless Battousai.

 

"Yes, let's get that out of the way first," Sôjirô agreed, but had only just grasped his own sword when Kaoru whirled around and rushed back.

 

"Oh no, not 'til I've got some answers, you don't!"  She marched up to Battousai and glared straight into his face, which helped a little to stave off her intimidation.  "Why?" she demanded.  _"Why?"_

 

He took his time replying.  "I'm afraid...Princess...that you don't quite - understand what it is like, to be enslaved to a master you hate, who orders you to do things you would give anything not to do."

 

"Aw, don't fall for his sob story," Sanosuke said in disgust.  "He'll say anything to make you feel sorry for--"

 

"Though I think," Battousai continued as if Sanosuke had not even spoken, "that you may have at least a small idea, since you fled rather than be enslaved to him as well."

 

They stared at each other.  Then Kaoru gasped.  "Lord Shishio.  You work for--"

 

Battousai bowed his head in acknowledgment.  "I am his assassin."

 

"And you just go along with it?" she said hotly, "Doing whatever he tells you, answering his beck and call--"

 

"He trained me from childhood.  When I tried to rebel or run away, he never punished me.  It was always innocents who suffered."

 

He lifted a hand, just barely brushing his fingers against the tip of her hair ribbon, which was bright pink.  It was the same one, in fact, that had been twined in his own hair not long ago.  "I am glad, Princess, that such a thing might not have to happen this time.  You realize...that if you refuse to return home, I must complete my original mission."

 

The understanding broke over Kaoru that there was one of two things at stake - her father's life, or her own happiness.  One must inevitably be sacrificed for the sake of the other, and for her, there was no hesitation.

 

"Princess," Sanosuke pointed out, "we could just kill this guy and solve the problem right here."

 

Kaoru looked at her two bodyguards.  Then she looked at Battousai, and saw the hand gripping his sword-hilt, the look of death in his face.  The man had not only survived a duel with Sôjirô, but was seemingly unaffected by the wound and ready to fight again.  Sanosuke certainly would be no match for him.  Victory for either side was far from certain, and if her guards were not able to overcome him, she would be right back where she started, along with the knowledge that she had been the cause of bloodshed.

 

"No," she said.  " _No_.  No fighting.  From _any_ of you.  Do you understand me?"  To her surprise, Battousai bowed in deference, and within moments, Sôjirô had as well, shaking his head as if he thought the whole thing was rather silly.

 

"Princess," Sanosuke protested, "I'm telling you, the guy is a murderer, he's an enemy of the state, he's--"

 

He stopped in surprise when Kaoru walked over and studied him for a minute.  Then she suddenly slammed her fist hard into his right shoulder, where she had detected the faintest spot of red.  Sanosuke reeled back a step, unable to suppress a gasp of pain, and Kaoru watched the red stain spreading over the white of his clothes.  "Battousai wounded you there, didn't he.  Sanosuke, don't tell me you won't get hurt if you fight him."

 

He gave her a sullen look.  "It's my job to protect you from guys like him."

 

Her temper flared up again.  "Guys like what?  Guys who make me breakfast and wear my hair ribbons without a murmur?"

 

"Hair ribbons?" Sôjirô wondered.

 

"Is it really that you want to protect me, Sanosuke?" Kaoru continued hotly, "Or is it that you're looking to salve your pride?  Can't you just pass on a fight for once in your life?"

 

Sanosuke threw up his hands in disgust.  "Whatever!  Don't blame me, then, when he cuts your throat in your sleep."

 

"He already had the opportunity," Kaoru pointed out, "and he didn't."

 

"I assume that was before he knew your true identity, Princess," Sôjirô put in.

 

"Don't make me repeat myself," Battousai said icily.

 

Sôjirô raised an eyebrow.  "Oh, Battousai?  Then let me repeat _myself_.  What if you were under orders?  What about your supposed cost for disobedience?"

 

Battousai did not reply right away.  He was thinking to himself, _'I will die, I will fight Shishio until he sends me to hell, before I let him make me kill another woman.'_   However, all he said out loud was, "Shishio can only push me so far."

 

Sôjirô asked in a deceptively careless tone, "And what would happen if you were to be 'pushed too far,' Battousai?"

 

Kaoru looked at Battousai's deadly expression and did not want to know the answer.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  "Hime" means "princess" (it's pronounced HEE-may).  Used as an honorific, it's like saying "Princess Kaoru."

 

Sôjirô would probably have sensed Kenshin coming up behind him....  Maybe he's so confident in his own abilities that he has the leisure to play it cool.  And yes, Souji's a good guy here, mostly because he's the only one I could really see being able to land a serious blow on Kenshin.

 

By the way, the setting for this AU is neither Europe nor Japan, though it contains characteristics from both.


	3. Chapter 3

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 3 - Sword & Rose**

 

The atmosphere in the throne room was tense, as the heated conversation between the king and his guest only just managed to stay within the limits of courtesy.  To the relief or annoyance of many, the conversation was cut off when the doors opened unexpectedly.

 

To everyone's surprise, it was a little old woman who came shuffling in, bent with age and with the weight of a wrapped burden she carried on her back.  She leaned heavily on a stick as she made her way forward, and was almost completely shrouded in a dirty, shabby gray cloak.  The king looked to his seneschal for explanation, but the man was wearing a confounded, helpless expression.

 

"My lord king," the woman spoke in a quavering voice when she had approached.  "Please honor this poor old woman, and accept these gifts for your daughter and her husband-to-be."

 

"Grandmother," the king said courteously, "I appreciate your kind gesture, but I am afraid that my daughter is not here."

 

"She is on her way back even as we speak," the old woman said, unperturbed.  "When the princess arrives, please see that she receives this."  The woman withdrew a knotted hand from the depths of her cloak and presented a thing of exquisite beauty that appeared remarkably incongruous next to her rags and old age.  It was a rose in perfect bloom, and of the deepest red.  Its livid color seemed to catch the light and make it sparkle in the dim hall.

 

The king licked his lips nervously, realizing that this was no ordinary woman.  "I thank you, my lady," he said, his voice shaking, and indicated that a servant should take the gift from the old woman's hand.  The girl who did so held it reverently, and carried it to the king with slow, careful steps.

 

The king's guest now spoke up.  He was handsome, with long black hair and well-cut features, but his eyes were as cold as death, and there was something not quite sane about the quirk of his mouth.  "Now don't tell me the groom gets a sparkly tulip or something."

 

The woman did not answer as she lifted the pack off her back, and unwrapped it with the slowness of old age.  Out spilled a clinking mess of trinkets.  They were shiny, but cheap, the sort of thing one would expect to be hoarded by a half-batty old woman.

 

Amid the baubles, however, was an item that immediately caught the attention of the men in the room.  It was a sheathed sword, and if the rose had been anything to judge by, this weapon should prove to be equally extraordinary.

 

The king's guest rose and strode over to the old woman.  "Let's take a look then, shall we?" he suggested, smirking.  The woman did not protest when he picked up the sword and drew it with relish.

 

Then he stared, and a look of anger crossed his face.  The sword's blade had been reversed, the cutting edge on the wrong side.  "What jest is this, woman?" he said in a soft, dangerous voice.  "This sword can kill no one."  He dropped it to the ground and spat contemptuously.  "Useless."

 

Before the king and his people could even wince, the woman suddenly seemed to unfold.  The scent of hakubaikô filled the air as she rose to twice her previous height, casting aside her rags to reveal a terrible, eldritch beauty.  Long dark hair flowed over shining garments, onyx eyes glittered in an elegant face, and there was no doubt in the minds of the king's people that she was indeed the enchantress Tomoe, as they had suspected.

 

"Shishio Makoto," she said, her voice as cold as the winter snows.  "Do not scorn the gifts of the fae."

 

Recognition flared in his face as her true appearance was revealed, but then he chuckled derisively and shook his head.  "Should have figured."

 

She turned her face to the king.  "These treasures are in your safekeeping, my lord.  Guard them well.  Kamiya Kaoru has my favor, and I do not wish to see her light extinguished."  With those words, the enchantress vanished.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru had to admit that each of them was right, in his own way.  She fully understood Sanosuke's outrage at having to travel with the man he was supposed to kill.  Yet Battousai had a point when he said that if they were all heading for the same place, they might as well go together.  Sôjirô's opinion was decisive, since he said he would much rather have his enemy within sight rather than stalking them unseen.  Inevitably, it was a rather harrying journey.

 

"What do you think you're doing?" Kaoru burst out when she realized Sanosuke's intentions.  "You are _not_ allowed in my room when I'm sleeping, are you crazy?!"  The tiny settlement they had found for the night was not big enough to have an inn, so the highest-ranking family (which was not saying much) had offered their home for the princess to stay in.

 

"I'm not gonna touch you, Princess," Sanosuke said in disgust.  "But someone's gotta keep an eye on you, what with that Battousai around."

 

"Then you can do it outside," she said firmly, gesturing at the open bedroom door.

 

"He's an assassin!  What's to stop him from sneaking in through the window or something?  I have to watch _you_ , not your _door_."

 

"Sanosuke!  I am a virgin princess!  There's decorum you have to follow here!"

 

"Oh, you mean that 'No men allowed without a chaperone' thing?" Sanosuke said impatiently.  "Too late, Princess.  Or did you _not_ camp out in the woods with just the three of us last night?"

 

Kaoru's face reddened furiously.  "That's not...!"

 

Battousai himself finally spoke up, addressing Sanosuke.  "I will sit here by the fire," he offered coldly, "and you shall watch me.  Let Sôjirô sleep in front of Kaoru-hime's room if you fear other intruders.  Or if you think you'll fall asleep."

 

"What was that?!"  Sanosuke leaped at the assassin, who calmly side-stepped the lunge and watched as his assailant plowed into a table.

 

"Sano, I suggest you take better care of our hosts' possessions, since your king will have to reimburse any damage."

 

"Shut up!" Sanosuke snapped at him, shaking himself free of the smashed wood.  "And where do you get off callin' me nicknames, punk?!"

 

"Excuse me," Sôjirô called cheerily from where he was sitting against the wall.  "Trying to sleep here.  Please be quiet, if you don't mind."

 

"Same here," Kaoru huffed.  "You two keep it down, I'm going to bed."  She firmly shut the door on them and climbed under the blankets.  However, it was a long time before she slept, since she found herself straining to listen to Sanosuke's continued muffled arguing and Battousai's indistinct replies.

 

It was like that the entire journey, with either Sôjirô or Sanosuke standing guard over her at all times, and Battousai seeming to never sleep at all.  It was no wonder tempers were short when they finally reached the castle.

 

"Don't give me that," Sanosuke hissed as they stood in the great hall, waiting to be announced.  To Kaoru, it felt like a continuation of the same endless argument.  "I _know_ what you were up to, and if the princess hadn't stopped me, I would have punched your nose to the back of your head."

 

Staring straight ahead, Battousai answered coolly, "I am surprised the king of this land would trust such an impulsive, undiscerning boor to guard his daughter."  Sanosuke's heated reply was cut off by the opening of the doors, and the little party entered the throne room.

 

Kaoru was only a few steps into the room when the sight of her father flooded her with a belated wave of homesickness.  The king rose to his feet, beaming, and Kaoru ran to him.  They stood embracing for a long minute before finally pulling away, smiling at each other.

 

"It is good to have you home, daughter," the king murmured.

 

"I missed you, Papa," Kaoru admitted.  "I...I'm sorry."  She stared down at her feet, her feelings a mix of rebellion and shame.  "For making you worry, I mean."

 

"Not for running away, though," he acknowledged softly, and she nodded.

 

They both turned to look at Lord Shishio, who grinned at Kaoru from where he still lounged in his seat.  "Welcome back," he drawled knowingly.  "Now that your business in the country has been completed, I am looking forward to our impending marriage."

 

Kaoru's lips tightened.  So that's how her disappearance had been explained.  She was just opening her mouth for some cutting reply, when she suddenly caught sight of Battousai out of the corner of her eye.  Oh, yes, that little problem.  She swallowed.  "I, too, am eager for...for peace."  She could not bring herself to express happiness, no matter how feigned, at the thought of becoming that man's wife.

 

The king's grip on her suddenly tightened, and Kaoru glanced up to see a look of shock and growing delight on his face.  "Himura!" he burst out.  Kaoru followed the line of his gaze and realized that he was staring at Battousai.  "Himura Kenshin, it _is_ you!" the king exclaimed, and swept down to wrap his arms around the red-haired assassin in a hearty embrace.

 

Kaoru felt her jaw drop, and was vaguely aware that everyone else in the room was also staring in surprise.  However, all were far surpassed by the utter astonishment on the face of Battousai himself.

 

Laughing, the king pulled back and clapped Battousai's narrow shoulders.  "Kenshin, my boy, I haven't seen you since you were a baby, toddling around at your nurse's skirt-hems!  Where have you been all these years, eh?  Maybe this finicky daughter of mine would prefer being married off to _you_ instead!"  He elbowed the young man conspiratorially and winked in Shishio's direction.

 

Battousai was visibly struggling to regain his composure.  "Ah...Your Majesty...forgive me, I'm afraid I--"

 

"Ah, not to worry," the king said reassuringly, patting his back with such force that the slender young man nearly fell over.  "We'll get this sorted out.  For now, however, let us retire to the dining hall, since it is time for supper.  I would call a feast in your honor, young Himura, but I'm afraid my cooks are no fae, to produce such a repast at short notice; ha ha!"

 

The king strode away, practically dragging Battousai under one arm.  Kaoru noticed the assassin cast a helpless glance in the direction of his master, who returned it with a look of cold fury.  Kaoru had no idea what was going on, but now was not the time to investigate; she would have to wait to catch her father alone.

 

Behind her, Sanosuke and Sôjirô were arguing in whispers.  "Sano-kun, there is more to this situation than we guessed.  We can't deliver our news right this moment--"

 

"He's a murderer and an enemy, Sôjirô!  He could try to kill the king at any time!"

 

"He had to relinquish all his weapons in the courtyard, you saw it yourself."

 

"A guy like that always has his bare hands...."

 

"He is a man of honor, Sano-kun, and therefore easy to predict.  He won't be killing the king under these circumstances, and now we cannot publicly reveal that he works for Shishio."

 

Kaoru cleared her throat pointedly, and the two young man glanced up at her.  "Supper," she reminded them.

 

Sôjirô smiled.  "I believe it is no longer my place to escort you, Kaoru-hime."

 

Suddenly sensing someone just behind her, Kaoru whirled to find Shishio at her back.  His cold eyes burned above a sly smile as he offered her his arm.  She took it wordlessly, and the four of them made their way into the dining hall.

 

_To be continued...._

 

A note on terminology:  Faerie is another name for Fairyland, and I use "fey" as an adjective for fairy-related stuff.  In the actual story, I use the word "fae" for magical creatures in general and "fairy" specifically for tiny winged humanoids, though in my A/Ns I might lapse into using them interchangeably.


	4. Chapter 4

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 4 - Master & Servant**

Author's Note:  Ô means "king" in Japanese.

 

o.o.o

 

"So the king recognized you."

 

"...Yes."

 

The sly mouth grinned.  "No wonder, with that ugly thing plastered across your face."

 

It was late.  The two men stood in the darkened, empty throne room, the last place anyone would have expected to find foreigners plotting treachery.

 

"Well!"  Shishio laughed cruelly.  "Looks like you'll have to kill the king after all, Battousai."

 

There was a stunned pause from the assassin.  "What?" he finally managed.

 

"Surely it can't have escaped your notice that you're my rival now.  Or would _you_ rather die instead?"

 

Battousai took his time before answering.  "I am no rival.  I was not aware that the king knew me from before...but I have spoken with him.  He knows now that Himura Kenshin is long dead."

 

Shishio rolled his eyes.  "Right.  That makes _such_ a difference, doesn't it."  Then his voice hardened.  "Do it, Battousai.  Either your life or his, I really don't care.  This country will be mine in the end - whether I inherit it legitimately, or take it by force in the wake of its ruler's death."

 

After a moment of no response, Shishio laughed.  "Perhaps you need time to think.  I'll tell you what - see that rose over there, illuminating this black chamber with its rosy lustre?"  The poetical turn of phrase dripped mockingly from his lips, so he was annoyed when Battousai appeared to take him seriously.

 

"A fey thing, that.  The princess is fortunate that the attention of the Fair Ones is favorable."

 

Shishio made a contemptuous noise through his teeth.  "Yes, that magic flower everyone here is so in awe of.  You see how it's already wilting?  You have until the last petal falls.  Bring me the head of this land's king, or leave your corpse where I can find it."

 

Battousai closed his eyes.  "What of the princess?"

 

"What about her?" Shishio said carelessly.

 

"Your...bride...will weep if she loses her father."

 

Shishio snorted dismissively.  "What does that matter to me?  Once I get a male heir out of her, you can screw her yourself for all I care.  Is that what you're getting at?"

 

There was a slight rustling as Battousai reached for his side, forgetting that he had surrendered his weapons upon entering the castle.  The empty gesture made Shishio laugh again.

 

"They're not there, Battousai - luckily for you.  If you had drawn a blade on me, there would have been no need to wait for that last petal."  He pushed away from where he had been leaning against the wall and left the room.

 

When the sound of his retreating footsteps had faded, there was silence for a long time.  Then a whisper echoed through the darkness.  "Kaoru-hime...forgive me."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The king looked up in surprise when Sôjirô and Sanosuke were bowed into his chambers.  "What's this?  Why aren't you performing your duties?"

 

Sôjirô inclined his head respectfully.  "Forgive us, Kamiya-Ô, but we have something to inform you of, and neither of us trusted the other to tell it right."

 

Sanosuke folded his arms.  "Hmph.  What with you sticking up for that swordsman half the time, you'll be convincing the king to let him roam free or something."

 

"In any case," Sôjirô continued, ignoring him, "we left young Yahiko in our place, so the princess is not completely undefended."

 

The king gave him a severe look.  "You left my daughter in the care of a kitchen-boy," he growled.

 

Sôjirô smiled.  "He is young, but you have seen his passion, Kamiya-Ô.  Already he has skill enough to impress even me."

 

"All the same," Sanosuke pointed out, "he wouldn't last two seconds against someone like that Battousai.  Tell the king our news so we can get back."

 

When they had finished speaking, the king sat silently for a moment, his face grave.  Then he sighed.  "So young Himura is in the service of Shishio, who seems to have been plotting treachery."  He shook his head.  "I can't say I'm surprised.  And I did wonder why it took so long for Kenshin to resurface, if he had been alive all this time."

 

Sanosuke grinned and pounded his fists together.  "So we can take 'em out tonight, then?"

 

The king frowned, and for a long time did not answer.  Sanosuke and Sôjirô exchanged glances.

 

Finally, their master spoke.  "No.  I can't believe that the Himura line would end like this...and now, having spoken with Kenshin himself, I am certain it would be a mistake to kill him."  He smiled a little as he said again, "No.  Keep your eyes open, certainly, for I can't deny that our lives are in danger.  However, this is not a matter to be resolved by hasty measures."  Then, almost to himself, "I shall try to speak to the enchantress again...."  He nervously ran a hand through his hair, then realized that Sôjirô and Sanosuke were still standing there.  "If you have nothing else to add, you may be dismissed."

 

The two young guards bowed and left the room, neither of them giving voice to their lingering dissatisfaction.  They did not even bother to argue as they returned to the princess's suite, sending Yahiko back to the kitchens and resuming their places outside Kaoru's door.

 

They had not been there long when a figure approached through the dark hall, bearing no light.  Sanosuke growled and clenched his fists when he saw who it was, and Sôjirô laid a hand on his sword-hilt.

 

"How'd you get up here?" Sanosuke demanded.  "This is a private wing!"

 

"What do you want?" Sôjirô asked, a bit more usefully.

 

"I need to speak to the princess," Battousai said quietly.  "Face to face, a message will not do.  If you will not allow me to enter, at least ask her to come out."

 

"Not a chance," Sanosuke snapped.

 

Sôjirô concurred.  "Battousai, you must admit that you no longer have any legitimate excuse to come near her."

 

"Then you are not letting me through?" Battousai confirmed.  He looked at their hostile expressions and nodded.  Then his eyes slid to the door, and a thoughtful look crossed his face.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"What a day," Kaoru grumbled, getting ready for bed later than usual.  After supper, she had had to wait for her father to end his serious-looking conversation with Battousai, all the while fending off the unease she felt in the presence of her future husband.  Then she had finally cornered her father to question him about the red-haired warrior, and what he had told her gave her quite a bit to think about.

 

Despite her unhappy preoccupation, it _was_ nice to be able to relax in front of the fire, enjoying the feel of the brush young Tsubame was carefully running through her hair.  One of the other maids, Tae, looked over from where she was preparing the bed.  "I'm sure it must have been difficult, Kaoru-hime.  Returning from your journey, and then having to face Lord Shishio again...."

 

"Why does no one ever call him 'King' Shishio?" Tsubame asked curiously.

 

"Because he's not really a king, even if he _has_ ruled that country for over twenty years," Kaoru explained darkly.  She noticed with disgust that she had spoken in a mutter, as if she had been afraid Shishio could hear her through the thick stone walls.  So she added in a louder voice, "He's a usurper - some nobody who raised an army of thugs and conquered his own country.  He just killed the royal family and took over."

 

Before she could say more, she was distracted by a sound from outside.  It was a sort of desperate wailing, muffled but unmistakable.

 

"What's that?" Tsubame asked fearfully.

 

"It sounds like a child crying," Tae said in puzzlement.  "Perhaps one of the servants' children has gotten lost."

 

"Or maybe Sanosuke's picking on the poor kid," Kaoru growled.  She stood up and went to the outer door of her suite, flinging it open to reveal the source of the noise.

 

For a minute, she could not make sense of what she was seeing.  That...that _couldn't_ be Battousai curled up on the ground, sobbing his heart out...could it?

 

At the sound of the door opening, Battousai quickly rose, wiped his eyes in a businesslike manner, and said before anyone could stop him, "Kaoru-hime, I beg an audience with you."

 

Kaoru gaped at him.

 

Realization hit her bodyguards at the same time.  One of them burst into a string of profanity, the other into sincere laughter.  "Clever, Battousai, to lure her out like that," Sôjirô remarked admiringly.

 

"Kaoru-hime," Battousai said again, those eyes of his fixed so intently on her face that she couldn't breathe for a minute.

 

"Um...er...fine.  Come on."  She went back inside, leaving the door open for the men to follow.  She sat herself among her curious maids, her mind wildly casting back to the things her father had told her about the Himuras.

 

Sanosuke and Sôjirô planted themselves strategically, leaving Battousai standing alone in the middle of the room.  He seemed tranquil enough, his hands loose at his sides.  It was only his expression that was troubled, presumably from whatever he wanted so urgently to tell her.

 

"I'm listening," Kaoru prompted.  By this time, she knew him well enough to add, "And if this is some abject apology you mean to give before trying to kill my father again, I _swear_ I'll sic Sanosuke and Sôjirô-kun on you--"

 

"You could choose to marry me instead of Shishio."

 

They all stared at him, not sure they had heard right.

 

Well, at least the hardest part was over with.  "Please understand, Kaoru-hime, that you are perfectly free to refuse.  I have no right to such boldness...I simply wanted to offer you another option."

 

He could not look at her.  His skin crawled at the thought of what he was doing, yet...he could not keep silent, either.  His dignity was worth nothing; it was much more important that the princess realize she was not bound to a single course.  He forced himself to continue.  "Out of necessity you must marry to bring peace to your country.  I would have kept silent if your suitor was an ordinary man.  However...my master...."  His voice shook with indignation, so that he abruptly fell silent.

 

For a moment, the room was still.  Then, just as Sanosuke was opening his mouth to expel a disgusted tirade, Kaoru spoke.  "There is another woman," she said softly.  "I've seen her."  Fury suddenly flooded her face.  "A common prostitute, dogging his heels in my own father's castle!  He'll get an heir from me and then go off to _her_ bed every night, while I endure the knowing looks of strangers."  Her own people were now staring at her in shock.  Kaoru swallowed hard, turning frightened eyes to Battousai.  "And...I heard screaming once, at night.  The next morning, that scummy manservant of his appeared with bandaged hands.  If he's...the kind of man who would...."

 

 _'Ah,'_ Battousai realized.  _'That time...Houji's punishment for failure did not go unnoticed.'_   He blinked when Kaoru suddenly rose and came right up to him.  "I would rather marry a _nogitsune_ than Lord Shishio," she declared.

 

Then her expression changed.  She gazed into his face for such a long time that he shifted uncomfortably.  To his surprise, her hand came up to gently trace the blazing mark on his cheek.  It was completely smooth, neither her fingers nor her eyes, now that she was so close to him, detected any unnatural puckering.  "So it isn't a scar after all."

 

"A birthmark," he admitted softly.  "The sign of my family's direct male bloodline."

 

"The Himuras," Kaoru finished.  Her hand dropped.  "And you are their long-lost prince, thought to have been slaughtered along with the rest of the royal family when Shishio Makoto rose up in rebellion."

 

"You have got to be _kidding_ me," Sanosuke sputtered.  "This guy is a _prince_?  No way!  No _way_ , he's lying, any fool can see that!"

 

"Any fool," Sôjirô murmured thoughtfully.  "Any fool like our king, perhaps?  He had been on good terms with the Himuras, and would have recognized the mark of their heir."

 

The hope that had been struggling in Kaoru's heart suddenly burst free.  She would not have to marry Shishio after all!  Instead, she could choose to marry...her father's would-be murderer.

 

Her eyes narrowed.  "So...what.  I can marry a monster, who plots treachery even as he speaks peace.  Or I can marry his slave, whose hands are stained with blood."  She could not quite bring herself to speak of the coldness in Battousai's eyes, betraying a frozen heart underneath the polite surface.  She did not want to think about what must have happened to turn Battousai into such a man, so carefully shielded behind the bloodshed.

 

"What exactly were you planning to do after the wedding, 'Prince Kenshin'?  Lead our battered, exhausted troops in a renewed war against your master, a man whom your own people are too terrified to cross?  Or did you just mean to get rid of my father as per the original plan, using _me_ as your foothold in this country while you act as Shishio's puppet-ruler?  What a wonderful choice, my fate has improved such a lot."

 

He inclined his head in acknowledgement of her words.  "I realize how little I have to offer you, princess.  Either way, your people will suffer; it's your own suffering that is at stake.  You implied that you would rather marry anyone than Shishio - perhaps even a blood-stained slave like myself.  The decision, such as it is, is entirely up to you."  He bowed and showed himself out.

 

_To be continued...._


	5. Chapter 5

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 5 - Flowers & Mushrooms**

 

"Your stance is off....  You're leaving your side exposed....  The passion isn't coming through...."

 

"Shut _up_ , Sanosuke!" the young servant finally exclaimed in exasperation.  "You don't even know anything about swordsmanship!  Go get drunk somewhere else!"

 

Sanosuke grinned from where he was lounging on one of the kitchen porches, sipping from a stolen cup of sake and watching Yahiko practice one of his techniques.  "I'm just fine right where I am, kid.  Besides, I need some laughs right now.  Sôjirô and I were up all night on double-guard duty again."

 

 _'He needs some laughs,'_ Yahiko thought furiously.  "Don't you have to be with the princess, then?  What are you doing slacking off?"

 

"I'm not _slacking off_ ," Sanosuke said in annoyance.  "It's Sôjirô's shift.  I'm goin' to bed as soon as I finish this."  He bobbed the cup in one hand and used the other to make flapping motions at Yahiko.  "Go on, entertain me with your little stick-sword."

 

"It's a shinai!" Yahiko said hotly.  "Though I guess it's just like you not to be able to tell."

 

One of the head cooks thundered out just in time to see his most troublesome charge grappling with a royal bodyguard twice his size.  "Myôjin!" the man barked.  "Return to your duties this instant, before I find where I put that switch!"

 

Sanosuke grinned as he let go of the amusing brat.  As for Yahiko, even the threat of a whipping did not curb his distaste for abandoning the scuffle.  It was only with utmost reluctance that he slung the shinai across his back and went into the kitchen.

 

Sanosuke chuckled under his breath as he watched them go.  "Great kid.  Even if he's got no clue how to throw a punch."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The days had passed too quickly - the wedding was tomorrow.  Sitting in her garden to take advantage of the winter sunshine, with Sôjirô keeping watch from a respectful distance, Kaoru could no longer stand the endless circle of her thoughts.

 

"There's just no way _out_ ," she complained to Megumi, one of the few court ladies Kaoru could honestly call a friend.  "I feel sick at the thought of being married to Lord Shishio, but he's promising a peace treaty in return for my hand.  Yet he's clearly willing to break contract, but Father won't do anything about it because he's set some ridiculous hope on a useless prince - who has _also_ offered marriage, but is at the beck and call of the first man!  There's just no way to win!  What are they all expecting of me?  I always knew I was destined to marry for politics, but when there's so little chance for any _good_ to come of it--  Hey!  Why are you yawning?!"

 

Kaoru glared at Megumi, who returned it with an annoyed look.  "Listen to you, twittering and whining as if the world is about to end."

 

"My world _is_ about to end," Kaoru pointed out.  "At the very least, it could be for the benefit of my people - but what if I can't even have _that_?"

 

"The key word there being 'if,'" Megumi said calmly, then cocked an eyebrow when Kaoru gave her a sharp look.  "Are you so sure that long-lost prince of yours is useless?"

 

Kaoru rolled her eyes.  Megumi did not know that Battousai was an assassin, but it was common knowledge by now that, lost prince though he may be, he was in some sort of service to Lord Shishio.

 

"Oh, come on.  Think about it," Megumi continued.  "Since when does a birthmark get passed down through a family line?  There's something fey about that man, some destiny that I wouldn't take lightly if I were you."

 

Kaoru gave her friend a skeptical glance.  "You sure you're not just interested in him because of his looks?"  She meant it sarcastically, so she was a little surprised when Megumi, grinning, appeared to take her seriously.

 

"I admit he _would_ be rather handsome without the birthmark, especially if those eyes of his ever thawed.  But there is more to him than that."  Her gaze shifted as she looked beyond Kaoru.  "Speaking of which...."

 

Kaoru frowned, then turned to find Battousai himself wandering into the garden, looking around curiously.  "Battousai," she called.  "This is a private garden, you know."  She glanced over at Sôjirô, who winked and made no move to interfere.  Kaoru supposed it was a good sign that he did not look worried.

 

Battousai turned to her and smiled a little.  "Is it?  In that case, please forgive the intrusion, Kaoru-hime.  I was looking for a place...."

 

As he trailed off, Kaoru suddenly noticed the thing he was holding carefully in both hands.  "Hey!" she burst out.  "What are you doing with my rose?"

 

"It's dying," he stated, holding it out to show her.  "I thought that perhaps it would like the open sky better than being imprisoned in the great hall."  His face was almost sad as he looked around at the winter-struck garden.  "But all its companions are asleep.  This is not the right place after all...I beg your pardon, Kaoru-hime."  He gave an apologetic little bow.

 

The two women stared at him, perplexed by this unexpected explanation.  "All flowers die without food and sunlight," Megumi pointed out.  "Why would a man like you care about something like that?"

 

Battousai pondered this for a minute.  Then he nodded and said, "You are right.  It needs nourishment to thrive...what is this fey thing meant to feed on, I wonder?"  He gazed thoughtfully at Kaoru for so long that she glared at him in self-defense.

 

"Well, it's not gonna spring back to life again if you plant it.  You have no business here, Battousai."

 

His eyes had automatically followed the gesturing of her hands as she spoke, so he noticed the mushrooms when he would not have otherwise.  His interest piqued, Battousai handed the rose to Kaoru and crouched down by the little growths, which were formed in a ring near the base of a tree.  He reached out for them, his fingers hovering just over their soft caps.

 

"What are you doing?" Kaoru said harshly.  "Don't touch them!"

 

He withdrew his hand and smiled up at her knowingly.  "Have these always been here?"

 

"How should I know?" she said haughtily.  "They're just mushrooms."  Yet he kept his gaze on her, so that after squirming for a while, she could not pretend any more.  "It was a long time ago," she admitted in a low voice.  "When I was a child.  I don't even remember anything."  Then she burst out heatedly, "And if you dare say, 'Ah, I _thought_ you looked touched' or some such thing, I'll pound you into the dirt!"

 

He rose and smiled at her in a way she would never have expected from an assassin.  "Ah," he said, with just a hint of humor.  "I _thought_ you looked familiar."  Then he gently took the rose back from her limp hands and walked away.

 

Megumi expelled a heavy breath, her eyes traveling between Kaoru's shocked face and the mushroom ring - the fairy ring, it had to be a fairy ring.  "You've been to Faerie," she realized.  Then she laughed.  "No wonder you're half-mad, Kaoru-hime!  Heh, I was always curious."

 

"Oh, be quiet!" Kaoru snapped, terrified that there might be truth behind her friend's teasing.  "It was just once, and it was a long time ago.  I don't even remember anything about it!"

 

"Uh huh."

 

Kaoru blushed and looked down.  After a minute, she whispered, "There was...dancing.  And everything was so beautiful...strange, but beautiful."  She shook her head.  "But I can't remember any details, really.  I don't even know why they let me come back at all."

 

Megumi reached out and clasped her hand in an unusually sympathetic gesture.  "It does explain some things," she said softly.  "Like why an enchantress would give you that rose."

 

Kaoru sighed.  "I was afraid of that."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Just outside the garden, Battousai was met by one of Shishio's servants.  Houji held up a black envelope, and Battousai's lips tightened.

 

Sensing the assassin's reluctance, Houji frowned in warning and insistently extended the envelope toward him.  Battousai briefly closed his eyes, then accepted the assignment.

 

They parted ways.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  According to Wikipedia, a fairy ring is "a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms...[which] also occupy a prominent place in European folklore as the location of gateways into elfin kingdoms, or places where elves gather and dance."  People in stories who spend time in Faerie often find, when they return to Earth, that time passes much differently in the two realms.  They used to call people 'touched' if they'd had dealings with the fairies.


	6. Chapter 6

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 6 - Enchantress & Courtesan**

The assignment had been specific in that the target was to be disposed of on the day of the Sunflower Festival.  Battousai chose to walk at least part of the way, since getting back to his home country by faster means would leave him too much idle time to nurse his gloomy thoughts.  Not that walking helped him much to escape such thoughts....  It was difficult to enjoy the countryside when, for example, he was trying to avoid musing over why he had been dispatched so early, why Shishio might have wanted him to be absent in the next few days.

 

He noticed the scent of hakubaikô wafting around him just before her voice spoke.  "And where are you headed, Kenshin?"

 

He came to a startled halt when the enchantress appeared out of nowhere.  "Tomoe."

 

She did not smile.  "You're going to let him get you out of the way until it's too late?"

 

He sighed.  "Why not?  I have the power to change nothing."

 

Tomoe's eyes narrowed.  "Kenshin, the sakabatô was not forged for Shishio Makoto."

 

He frowned.  "Am I to assume you meant it for me?  I am in no position to wield it myself."

 

"Do you really believe that?" she asked quietly, and watched his expression grow troubled.

 

"Tomoe," he finally said in a low voice.  "I cannot cross him, you know that."

 

"Can't you?" she challenged.

 

Battousai's head came up, his eyes sparking with anger.  He stepped close and reached around to press hard against her back.  "Do you not remember what happened the last time I tried to rebel?" he growled softly.

 

Tomoe winced at the sudden pain in her old scar, but made no attempt to pull away.  "Of course," she managed to say after a moment.

 

He nodded and backed away.  "I gave Kaoru-hime a choice.  That is all I can do."

 

"No, it's not.  You can accept your wedding gift and put it to good use."

 

He gave her an exasperated look.  "My _wedding_ gift, is it?  What is so special about that sword that you place all your hopes on it, Tomoe?"

 

"If I was simply depending on the sword, I would have given it to Seta Sôjirô."  She moved close to him again, gazing intently into his eyes.  "I have faith in _you_ , Kenshin.  Some things haven't changed."

 

His head dropped as if in shame, and they did not speak for a while.

 

Finally, she smiled again and cupped her hand against his marred cheek.  "Ever since I've known you, this cross has stood out so vividly," she said sadly.

 

A rueful smile came to his lips.  "Even generations later, the mark of the Faerie Queen's anger is strong - though I'm told it was much worse in the beginning."

 

Tomoe studied him thoughtfully.  "Such a face you inherited....  She often tells me how she regretted her choice of revenge on you Himura men."

 

"I am not surprised.  The fae put too much stock in beauty."  He cocked his head curiously.  "Do you know if she ever forgave my grandfather?"

 

Tomoe shrugged.  "Of course.  For one thing, he's dead.  For another....  Well, why do you think _you're_ still alive, even though you've been trapped in the power of an enemy like Shishio Makoto?"

 

"So it's true."  His face clouded dangerously.  "If I am under the queen's protection, why did the rest of my family die?  Why is my country in the thrall of a usurper?"

 

Tomoe sighed.  "You know quite well that Unseelie blood runs through the veins of Shishio Makoto, far more strongly than Seelie blood runs through yours.  Even the Faerie Queen has limitations."  It was a kinder answer than, _'Because you are the only one she was interested in.'_

 

He was looking closely at her.  "Tomoe, why have you come?"

 

"Why else?  To stop you from getting distracted.  This man you're heading off to kill - he is completely innocent, you know.  Shishio only gave you the order to get you away from the castle."

 

She chuckled at the tormented look on his face.  "Yes, I've taken away ignorance, your last defense.  What are you going to do now, Battousai?  Follow orders like a dog?  Or--"

 

"Or be manipulated by the fae?" he cut in meaningfully.

 

Her voice was quiet.  "I am no Titania.  Are you going to start holding my lineage against me?  You never did before."

 

He shook his head.  "I trust you, Tomoe.  But I can't do what you want."  He took an uncertain step away from her.  Then another.

 

"You're going the wrong way," she warned.

 

He took yet another step.  He had made it a few meters away from her when she called to him again.  "Kenshin.  It is no longer the Faerie Queen's anger which keeps that red cross so livid on your face.  That mark is tied to your happiness no less strongly than the rose of Faerie is tied to Kaoru-san's."

 

He chuckled mirthlessly.  "Is that so.  What unhappy people we must be, then."

 

Tomoe nodded.  "Yes.  Which is why you fools were supposed to end up together."

 

She closed her eyes and disappeared.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The night before the wedding, Yumi had completed her task and was heading back to Lord Shishio's room when she noticed that the doors to the great hall were slightly ajar.  When she had peeked in and seen who was there, she frowned and pushed her way inside.

 

"Battousai," she called softly.  "What are you doing here?  You're supposed to be back home."

 

The assassin turned to face her.  "Yumi-dono," he greeted calmly, but did not otherwise respond.

 

Then she noticed what he was holding.  "What are you doing with that fey sword?" she asked sharply.

 

He shrugged.  "Foreigners are not permitted to carry weapons in this castle.  This is the only available substitute."

 

She stared at him in disbelief.  "How come you're unarmed?  Don't tell me you didn't even bother to sneak in.  You're an assassin!  How could you just stroll in through the front door?!"

 

"What does it matter?  Only Lord Shishio and his people knew the true nature of my errand, right?"

 

"That's not the point!"

 

"Forgive me for failing to live up to your expectations, Yumi-dono," he said ironically.  Then his eyes moved to the item she was carrying in her own hand.  He asked quietly, "What sort of potion is that?"

 

Surprised, she glanced down at the bottle she held, then smiled a little.  "Just a little drink I was sent to fetch."  Her eyes glinted as they met his.  "Would you like a sip, Battousai?" she asked challengingly.

 

His eyes narrowed as he studied her.  "No."

 

Yumi shrugged and grinned at him.  "Oh well.  It was worth a try."

 

She turned to go, but stopped when she heard him whisper to himself, "Forgive me, Kaoru-hime...it looks like I'll have to force your decision after all."

 

Yumi looked back in surprise to see him gazing at the sword.  Then he raised his head and gave her a very thoughtful look.  "Yumi-dono," he asked softly, his eyes cold, "how much does Lord Shishio love you?"  He took a step toward her, and a surge of fear shot up Yumi's spine.

 

"Don't touch me," she warned as he approached.  "Don't you touch me!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"What do you mean the wedding is postponed?" Shishio demanded.  Early morning sunlight had just begun to ignite the frosty glitter on the windows, but already the castle was awake and bustling on this important, yet interrupted day.  "You are jeopardizing the peace treaty you supposedly care so much about, just because some useless weapon went missing?"

 

"My daughter's marriage has been blessed by the fae," the king said seriously.  "To proceed without their gifts would be foolish - they would take it as a great insult."

 

Shishio could certainly not throw a tantrum here, taking the princess by force and killing everyone else to relieve his feelings.  However, he very much wanted to, especially since this little hiccup coincided so strangely with Yumi's disappearance.

 

"My lord."  Shishio turned to find Houji entering the room, wearing an apprehensive expression.  Shishio's eyes immediately went to the open letter in the servant's hand, signed only by a large, defiant cross at the bottom.  Shishio had no need to read the note to guess its contents, his suspicions were already confirmed.

 

He turned back to the king.  "Your Majesty," he said, his tone now courteous.  "I will retrieve this sword if it's so important."  _Though I'll need a proper one to hack off Battousai's head with._   "The wedding may continue as planned.  I will be back long before its commencement."  The king nodded, and Shishio strode purposefully out of the hall.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru, half-dressed in her wedding finery, pressed her hands together to still their shaking.  Her maids had gotten her up before dawn this morning to begin preparations, which had been well under way before news came that the sword brought by the enchantress had gone missing.  _'Thank you, Papa,'_ Kaoru thought silently.  She knew that he had either arranged for such an occurrence or was at least taking advantage of it.  A story had spread that the marriage would be cursed if the fey gifts were excluded form the ceremony, so Kaoru was grateful for even a brief respite.

 

Her eyes were fixed on the rose lying limply on the table before her.  Its color was still remarkably deep, and it seemed to glow even in the lighted room.  However, its stem had darkened, and what remained of the petals were wrinkled and drooping.  Kaoru was afraid to touch it, for fear the last few velvety slips would lose their hold.  There were so few of them now...less than a handful.  Kaoru could not say why, but she was troubled by the feeling that when the rose lost the last of its beauty, something terrible would happen.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Outside the princess's chamber, Sanosuke and Sôjirô came to abrupt attention when they saw Lord Shishio approaching.  The foreign lord grinned at them.  "At your ease, men.  Your princess is in no danger from her husband."

 

"Fiancée," Sanosuke pointed out.  "You're still not married yet."

 

Shishio's eyes settled on him.  "You're a bold one, aren't you.  I suppose you'll do."

 

"What are you talking about?" Sanosuke demanded.

 

Shishio grinned.  "Perhaps you can't tell, but I'm rather angry right now.  No one will miss an upstart, ineffective bodyguard."

 

Sanosuke's furious reaction was interrupted before Shishio even finished reaching for his weapon.  Sôjirô, without a word, had drawn his sword, turned, and thrust it into his companion.  Then he watched impassively as Sanosuke slumped to the floor, eyes bright with horror at this betrayal, and did not move again.

 

Shishio processed this development so swiftly that he did not even pause; his sword rasped out of its sheath and came to rest, not at all gently, against Sôjirô's throat.

 

The young man didn't even flinch.  "It can get pretty tiresome living among all these superstitious people," he remarked, the smile never leaving his face.  "All their Faerie-talk was worth nothing when my father needlessly died in a poorly-led battle.  It was worth nothing when my mother was thrown out to die on the streets as a harlot."  His eyes met Shishio's squarely.  "Grant me revenge, Shishio-sama."

 

Shishio lowered his sword.  "It's a dangerous game you play," he commented.  "However, I do have a slight problem, since I'll soon be losing my chief assassin.  Perhaps I'll have _you_ dispose of the princess instead, once she's served her purpose."

 

Sôjirô smiled.  "I'll look forward to it, my lord."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"I don't think you realize what a stupid thing you've done," Yumi insisted.  She had been lecturing him practically nonstop since he had carried her off, and Battousai was all but tuning her out by now.  He continued to wait silently as she went on, "I doubt he'll let you live.  You were already on the line, you know, and now you've gone too far.  You ought to run now, while you still have the chance.  Are you listening to me, Battousai?"

 

The slender warrior suddenly straightened.  Yumi raised her eyes and smiled to see that her lord had come for her at last.

 

Shishio rode across the field and dismounted when he was close, handing the reins to his companion without looking.  Sôjirô led both their horses out of the way, glancing at Yumi with mild curiosity.

 

"Heh.  So your granny's protection is useless when you cast it aside of your own free will," Shishio commented, drawing his sword as he approached.  "Finally.  I should have done this a long time ago."

 

"As should I," Battousai answered quietly.  His hand tightened on the sakabatô's hilt in preparation.

 

Shishio looked at the weapon with an expression of amazed disgust.  "Don't tell me you mean to fight me with that thing."

 

"I wouldn't dare fight you without it," Battousai replied with a cold little smile.

 

His eyes slid questioningly to Sôjirô, and Shishio grinned.  "You know quite well what I'm like when I'm angry, Battousai.  I couldn't leave without killing _someone_ , and the princess's little dog here volunteered for the part."

 

Sôjirô blinked, the only sign that he realized Shishio had not been taken in by his act.  His smile did not falter.

 

 _'A hostage,'_ Battousai realized.  Then he narrowed his eyes and hissed, "Not this time.  No more killing, Shishio."

 

Shishio glared at the lack of an honorific or title.  "You are too familiar, slave.  Let's see how defiant you are when this boy's head rolls at your feet."  He turned and slashed at Sôjirô, who was ready for him.  The young man brought up his own sword with the speed of a lightning strike, so that their blades strained against each other for a moment.

 

"Please don't underestimate me, Shishio- _sama_ ," Sôjirô said cheerfully.

 

Shishio grinned.  "I haven't.  Felling a warrior like Seta Sôjirô is a much more satisfying warm-up than cutting down that bird-head would have been."

 

"It seems we have our work cut out for us, Battousai," Sôjirô called over Shishio's shoulder.

 

Battousai nodded grimly.  "That we do."  He raised his sword as Shishio broke away and turned to face him.  "Hyaaaah!"

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  In Scottish folklore, Unseelie refers to "bad" or dark fairies, and Seelie to light or relatively good ones.


	7. Chapter 7

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 7 - Remembrance & Loss**

 

The sun was sinking in the west, flooding the sky with its last burst of brilliance before departing.  Kaoru watched from her window, cradling the rose in her hands and pointedly ignoring the heap of wedding clothes she had cast off earlier.

 

"Don't die," she found herself whispering, and was not at all sure whom she addressed.  Was it her heart, shriveling at the thought of her bleak future?  Was it Battousai, with his eyes that sought death?  Or was it the flower in her hand, falling steadily to pieces?

 

Even as Kaoru looked, the very last petal clung to her fingers rather than to its stem, and she raised the bare, thorny stick with a look of disbelief.  "It's gone."  Her eyes filled with tears.  The promises of the fae, her happiness, whatever it was supposed to mean...gone.  The stem fell silently to the floor, and Kaoru gathered up its fallen petals in her hands, pressing them to her face in desperation.

 

Their scent washed through her, and with the fragrance came a flood of memory:

 

_The little girl crept into the garden on a warm, clear night.  She knew that her papa and Kasshin would be angry when they found out, but she had not been able to sleep.  The beauty of the moon shining outside her window had captivated her, inviting her, so she had slipped out of bed and come out here to feel the cool grass under her bare feet._

_She looked around at the tightly-curled flowers, laughing at the realization that they went to sleep at night, too.  Then her attention was caught by a little ring of mushrooms.  Crouching down, she reached out to touch them, and then--_

 

'Where am I, where am I?!  Papa I'm sorry, please take me home, I didn't mean to sneak out!  Papa, please take me away!'

_A host of fantastic creatures had been reveling, so that the night air was filled with the fluttering of their wings and the glitter of their eyes.  They were delighted to find a small female human suddenly in their midst, and crowded eagerly around her.  Some were gorgeous and others hideous, but both kinds frightened her with their unearthly looks.  Laughing, they poked at her and played curiously with her hair and made silly faces._

_"Smile, little girl!"_

_"Oh, isn't she a cute one!"_

_"Hey, let's cut her up and cook her for a party snack!"_

_"No, then you'll damage her beautiful little eyes!"_

_"At least let me have a dance with her before you try to eat her!"_

_Most of them were only teasing, but she had no way of knowing that.  Shrieking, she lashed out with her tiny arms and fought to get away._

_"Enough!"  Someone was pushing his way through, a young man.  Despite his beauty, his physical form was reassuringly human in the midst of this fey crowd.  Yet she put her hands over her eyes in terror, because she saw that his face was bloody and that he carried sharp weapons at his waist._

_Seeing her distress, he turned such a fierce glare on the fae that they backed away nervously, most of them dispersing to resume their dancing.  Then the young man sighed and knelt beside the girl.  "Please don't cry, little one," he murmured as gently as he could.  She peeked out at him through her fingers, and he looked at her compassionately.  "Poor thing...you're a mortal child, aren't you."  Then he smiled, and her hands dropped in surprise, for it was a nicer smile than even Sôjirô-kun's._

_Tearfully, she ventured to say, "Your face hurts."_

_His eyes widened in surprise.  "It does?"  She pointed firmly to the red slashes, and he laughed when he suddenly understood.  "It doesn't hurt, little one.  I was born this way."_

_Curiously, she reached up to touch his face.  Relief surged through her when she realized that it was not blood after all, but smooth skin under her fingers.  Her courage returning, she asked shyly, "Can you...give me wings like them?"  She pointed to the dancers, merry and beautiful, who were whirling through the sparkling fairy-forest._

_"Hm...let's see."  He placed gentle hands around her - then in one swift movement, he had lifted her and was twirling her high in the air.  Delighted laughter gurgled from her throat as she spread her arms to fly, and he was surprised to find himself laughing as well, responding to her joy._

_The fae laughed, too, as they gathered again to watch.  "The prince has a sweetheart!  All hail the prince and his sweetheart!"  Cheering and clapping rang out, partially mocking, but much of it from genuine pleasure at the sight.  Someone's cup flew into the air, perhaps by accident, or perhaps deliberately; fairy wine arced towards the human girl and splashed over her.  The red-haired swordsman spun to a halt, staring in amazement, for suddenly he held not a little girl, but a young woman._

_She smiled, liking the feel of his arms around her.  Her hands patted over her own face and body, wondering at the change._ 'I'm big like a grown-up now,' _she thought happily._

_His eyes were fixed on her, his expression torn between longing and distaste.  The girl in his arms was so beautiful, but he knew that, for now at least, it was only glamour - she was still an innocent child within.  He swallowed hard, then turned to the fae and demanded, "Change her back."  They only laughed._

_The girl was staring at her red-haired partner, thinking admiringly,_ 'He's pretty and nice, I want to kiss him.' _She leaned forward, but he turned his face away so that her lips touched the red cross on his cheek instead.  "I like you," she told him.  The strange, deepened sound of her own voice startled her, and she was afraid to say more._

_He looked at her again, his face sad.  "I must lead you back."_

_The fae protested angrily, their yells frightening her, but he calmly took her hand and led her away.  As they walked, the music and twinkling lights faded into the distance, then disappeared altogether.  Oblivious to their passage between worlds, the girl yawned and realized that she had become small again._

_She was so, so tired....  Finally, she plopped down and told him with sleepy firmness, "No more."  He smiled and picked her up, carrying her as he continued walking, and marveled at how light and delicate she was.  It had been too long since he had last held a child like this._

_She was glad to drape her arms over his shoulders and rest her head and close her eyes, feeling as safe and secure as if it was Kasshin or her own father who held her.  When she woke, she was in her bed as usual, and the morning sun was shining through her windows.  She leaped up in excitement, but within moments, her memories of Faerie and the young swordsman had faded away._

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Princess!"

 

Kaoru groaned and tried to push away whoever was shaking her so urgently.

 

"Princess, wake _up_!  Oh, great, now she's under a spell or something, and if they find me like this I'm gonna be in trouble...WAKE UP, you fat slug!"

 

Kaoru shot upright, glaring ferociously.  " _What_ did you say, you little maggot?" she snarled.

 

The kitchen-boy's face broke into a relieved grin.  "About time, busu-hime.  OW!"

 

Kaoru ducked his retaliation and whacked him a second time, just for good measure.  "Do you _want_ to get fired?" she growled threateningly.  She had always thought that Yahiko was too bold and hot-headed for a servant, especially ever since he had caught Sôjirô's eye.  That personality trait was often annoying, but Yahiko also put it to good use during his training.  Kaoru suspected that his youth was the only reason he had not yet been promoted to a castle guard.

 

Suddenly realizing that she had been lying on the floor, Kaoru looked around wildly as she remembered her dream.  No, not a dream....  "Battousai!  The rose-- where's Shishio?!"

 

Yahiko eyed her warily.  "That's what I came to tell you, Princess.  Hey, um...you didn't notice that your supper was late?"

 

She gave him a confused look.  "Huh?  Supper?"

 

"Yeah," Yahiko said with unusual solemnity.  "You didn't hear anything?  When I came to bring your meal, Sôjirô was gone and I found Sanosuke...um, lying in front of your door."

 

"What?"  Kaoru shook her head in disgust.  "That idiot.  If my father finds out he was drinking on the job--"

 

"He was bleeding."

 

Kaoru stared at him.

 

"What I mean is, someone, uh, stabbed him."

 

"What?!"  Kaoru grabbed the boy by the collar.  "Sanosuke's hurt?!"

 

"Let go, will you?  The doctors say he'll be all right, since the blade missed important organs and stuff, but he hasn't woken up yet.  I came as soon's I had a chance, because...."  He grinned a little, his head coming up proudly.  "I'm the one in charge of your safety now, Princess."

 

"Sanosuke!" Kaoru exclaimed, still distraught.  "I've got to see him!  But no, wait, Battousai, I've got to talk to him-- but I'm supposed to be getting married to Shishio today, argh!"

 

"Cool it," Yahiko said, ducking away from her frustrated gesturing.  "Shishio went after the fairy sword and hasn't come back.  And that red-haired guy, I saw him leave last night, him and that creepy chick who's always hanging around Shishio."

 

A hot surge of emotion flooded Kaoru's face.  "Battousai...went with that Yumi woman?"

 

Yahiko nervously backed away from her expression.  "Yeah.  He was carrying her like she was unconscious.  Wouldn'ta pegged Red-hair for that kind of guy, but whatever."

 

Kaoru did not know what to make of this, but one thing she was certain of.  She rose to her feet and said with determination, "Yahiko, let's go.  Fetch me a traveling cloak and one of the spare servants' uniforms while I check on Sanosuke, then meet me at the west gate of my garden."

 

Shrouded in the cloak and dressed as a servant, Kaoru was not recognized when they rode out.  They had gone several miles, meaning to check the nearest village first, when they spotted a rider in the distance, heading slowly in their direction.  They adjusted their course to meet him, hoping he had news.

 

"He's riding kind of funny," Yahiko remarked.  "Most people aren't... _lopsided_ like that when they're on a horse."

 

Kaoru gasped when she finally recognized who it was coming toward them.  The white and pale blue of his clothing was stained with blood, and his head hung so limply that it looked as if it was about to fall off.  "Sôjirô-kun!"  She spurred her horse to pull up beside him.  "Sôjirô-kun!  What happened?"

 

"Shishio," he whispered faintly after a moment.  "He's dead.  Battousai...probably is too, by now...couldn't bring him...."

 

A cold horror filled Kaoru's heart, and she reached out to grip Sôjirô hard.  "Where is he?  Where is he, Sôjirô-kun?!"

 

He had to gather himself again to answer.  "Follow the trail."  Kaoru stared at him in confusion.  Then she looked around and saw the prints of his horse in the snow, leading away into the distance.

 

She immediately turned to Yahiko.  "Get him home.  I'm going to find Battousai."

 

"No!" Yahiko insisted.  "Let me go ahead, you should stay with Sôjirô--  Princess!  _Princess_!"  It was no use, Kaoru was already too far away to hear him.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The trail ended in a field, half of which had somehow been burned black.  Smoke still rose here and there, and embers glowed hotly underneath the ashes; if not for all the snow, the fire might have spread to the forest.  At first, the ground was only spattered here and there with blood, but the red patches grew larger and more frequent the farther Kaoru went.

 

She suddenly gagged when she saw Yumi's corpse sprawled on the ground, the once-elegant clothes now soaked with gore.  Farther on lay a charred body, almost but not quite unrecognizable--

 

Horror at the sight warred with relief at the realization that she was free from Shishio forever.  Turning her eyes away, Kaoru caught sight of Battousai lying in a heap at the foot of a tree, as if he had sat there to rest and had not had the strength to remain upright.  She tried to dismount so quickly that she literally fell off her horse.  "Battousai!  _Battousai_!" she shouted as she ran to him.  There was no response.

 

She flung herself down beside him, praying to find a pulse.  It seemed unlikely that she would - his clothes from the waist up were shredded, revealing wounds that were still slowly leaking blood; his chest was burned black, his face caked with dried blood.  Hysterical, frantic laughter choked her when she saw that he had lost his hair-tie again, so that he seemed to be lying in a large puddle of fiery red.  The color of his hair blended in much too closely with the blood.

 

"Oh please, please, Battousai, please!"  She caught her breath as she felt a faint pulsing under her fingers, but he did not stir at her touch.  "Battousai!" she cried.  Then, desperately, "Kenshin!  Wake _up_ , please wake up!  Kenshin...."  Her tears splashed onto his face, and miraculously, his eyelids trembled.  They cracked open very slowly, revealing glazed, blank eyes.

 

"Kao...ru...."

 

Emotion welled up in her at the sound of her name from those lips.  "Kenshin...Kenshin, do you think you can stand if you lean on me?  I've got to get you back to the castle; oh, _why_ didn't I think to bring a doctor?!"

 

"I'm...glad...you're here...."  The sightless eyes closed again, and the blood-stained mouth relaxed in a smile.

 

"Kenshin, no!  NO!  Don't you go dying on me!  Not now, not now when I...."  She swallowed.  "I love you," she whispered.  Then she screamed desperately, "Did you hear me, Kenshin?  I want to marry you!  I'd marry you even if Shishio was still alive!  I want...I...."  She broke down sobbing, blinded by tears.

 

"...Oro?"

 

Gasping, she dashed the tears away and stared down into his face.  His eyes had opened again, but they looked different now; they were warmer, brighter.  The eyes of Battousai were cold and hard, as if they sucked in the light, but these new eyes were sweet, reflecting back with a soft sheen.  Kaoru stared at him in wonder - it was like his whole face had been transformed.

 

"This one's...dying-visions...are very...unexpected...that they are."

 

Frowning at the odd pronoun she had never heard him use before, Kaoru said hotly, "It's not a vision, you idiot.  I _do_ want to marry you, so you'd better get well soon!  My wedding has been put off too long already."

 

A faint chuckle escaped his lips, bringing with it a trickle of fresh blood.  Then his eyes once again drifted closed, and his head fell limply to the side.

 

"Kenshin?  Kenshin, stop it.  Kenshin!  _Kenshin_!"

 

_To be concluded...._

 

Author's Notes:  Fairy glamour is a kind of disguising magic.

 

Busu-hime = Princess Ugly


	8. Chapter 8

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 8 - Prince & Princess**

 

He stood at the edge of a river he knew well, so close that spray from the flowing liquid stained his feet with specks of crimson.

_"For all the blood that's shed on the earth runs through the springs of that country...."_

 

Sickened, he wondered how much of this blood had been spilled by his own hands.

 

"What are you doing here, Kenshin?"

 

He raised his eyes to see Tomoe standing on the other side, her head tilted curiously.  He answered with a sad smile, "It seems the time has come for this one to walk that path at last."  He raised his arm, pointing to the broadest of the three roads that branched out in the distance behind Tomoe.

 

She did not even look.  "You may travel that road if you choose to, Kenshin...but you will upset many people if you do."  She smiled wryly.  "One of them would be me."

 

He frowned.  "Even the fae cannot hold back a man from his death."

 

"Fortunately," she replied, "in this case, we don't need to try."

 

He stared at her, and her smile widened.  "Go home, Kenshin."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Yahiko had volunteered for dungeon-duty again, carrying meals down to the handful of prisoners in the castle cells.  The two murderers glowered and said nothing; the pedophile, apparently not having learned his lesson from last time, tried to snake a hand up Yahiko's leg and was rewarded by a resounding smack from the bamboo sword.  Only one of the prisoners held any interest for Yahiko, who saved that visit for last.

 

Inside the cell, Sôjirô looked up at the sound of the door opening, and smiled to see Yahiko stepping in with a tray.  The guard who had let Yahiko in pointed out, "There _is_ a reason for that flap down there."  He indicated the small opening at the bottom of the thick door where food was supposed to be pushed through.

 

"Yeah.  Thanks," Yahiko said pointedly.  The guard grumbled under his breath and went back out, shutting the door on the two young men.

 

Yahiko shook his head, then walked over to where Sôjirô was sitting in chains.  "I brought you a meat-pie and an apple," Yahiko offered.  "It's all I had time to filch before the cook turned around.  The pie got a bit smashed, but it should still taste all right."

 

"What would I do without you, Yahiko-kun?" Sôjirô chuckled.  He accepted both the food Yahiko handed him from out of his pocket and the less appealing fare on the tray.

 

"You doing all right?" Yahiko asked.

 

"Oh, yes.  The wounds are almost gone, please thank Takani-san for me.  It was she who convinced the doctors to take such good care of me, despite my...situation."

 

"Good thing, too," Yahiko muttered.  "I can't _believe_ they wanted to just let you bleed to death in here."

 

"I am a traitor, after all," Sôjirô said cheerfully.  "It's no surprise that they would not want to waste their time and talents."

 

"But you're _not_ a traitor!" Yahiko protested.  "You said--"

 

Sôjirô held up a hand to quiet him.  "I explained my actions, but there is little reason for anyone to believe or trust me.  Unpleasant as it is to be imprisoned here, I have actually been treated much better than would be expected."

 

"Whatever you say," Yahiko sighed, and leaned against the wall to watch the older boy eat.  Neither of them spoke for a while.  Finally, Yahiko said in frustration, "He won't wake up.  That swordsman's testimony is the only thing that can save you from being executed, and he's been asleep for ages."

 

"That is understandable," Sôjirô said calmly.  "If you had seen the battle, Yahiko-kun, you would know that Battousai and I are lucky to be alive.  Shishio Makoto fought like a monster."  He shook his head.  "I was right to save Sano-kun from him."

 

"You couldn't have figured out a better way to do it?" Yahiko complained.

 

"I didn't have a lot of time to think," Sôjirô pointed out.  Then he sighed.  "Though I suppose it wouldn't have mattered in the end.  Shishio knew better than to trust me."  He suddenly eyed the younger boy.  "Speaking of which, I'm afraid I must apologize, Yahiko-kun."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I confess that I dishonored the memory of your parents, using them for a lie...."

 

When he had explained, Yahiko did not speak for a minute.  Then he finally said gruffly, "Well, it did happen.  It's not like you changed their stories.  Maybe...they would have been proud to have a warrior like you for a son."

 

Sôjirô smiled.  "I think they are more proud to have _you_ as their son, Myôjin Yahiko."

 

The cell door suddenly clanged open again, admitting a figure dressed in white.  He stalked in and stood glaring down at the prisoner for a long time.

 

Finally, Sôjirô said, ever-smiling, "Hello, Sano-kun.  Are you feeling better?"

 

"No thanks to you," Sanosuke growled, the wound still visible on his torso.  After a pause, he finally burst out, "Why did you do it?!"

 

"You know why," Sôjirô said quietly.  "Don't worry, though.  I'm not expecting thanks, from you or anyone.  Maybe I even did the wrong thing."

 

" _Maybe_ you did the wrong thing?  How about of COURSE you freaking did the wrong thing!  I _heard_ what you said about the princess, Sôjirô!  If our king wasn't such a soft-heart, you'd have been dangling from a rope the day you dared show your traitorous face in this castle again!"

 

Sôjirô said nothing.

 

"Oh, so _now_ you got no tongue?  Are you gonna climb onto the execution block like a good little dog?  At least sticking a knife in your own guts would be the manly thing to do, but I bet you'll just settle for being hanged, or--"

 

"Sano-kun," Sôjirô said suddenly, his voice very quiet.  "I'm sorry."

 

Sanosuke stared at him.

 

The corner of Sôjirô's mouth quirked.  "I'm sorry for sticking a blade in your guts instead of my own, if that's what you're wanting me to say."

 

"What do you mean, 'what I want you to say'?  I want you to--!  I want...."  They stared at each other, and it was Sanosuke who finally looked away.

 

"What _do_ you want, Sano-kun?" Sôjirô said softly.  "For things to be like they were before?"  He pushed himself to his feet, his smile faltering for the first time.  "Would you rather Shishio had stabbed you instead?  _He_ wouldn't have missed any of your vitals, I can assure you of that."

 

Sanosuke unthinkingly lifted a hand to his bandaged wound.  He knew very well that Sôjirô had skill enough, not just to kill him easily, but also to injure him in such a way that he might survive.  Even so....  "So, what.  I'm supposed to believe you were actually _saving_ me?  Nice try, you freaking liar.  How'd you know I wouldn't have bled to death before someone found--"

 

He stopped.  Sôjirô smiled, but said nothing, and Yahiko finally voiced it for them both.  "The princess's supper is sent at the same time every night, whether she eats in her chambers or in the dining room."  He grinned, looking relieved.  "You knew I'd find him, Sôjirô."

 

Sôjirô shrugged.  "Yet I am a liar, as Sano-kun pointed out.  It is up to him whether he believes me or not."

 

Sanosuke looked away and cursed to vent his feelings, then sighed and mumbled, "Guess it doesn't matter now.  I came to tell you you've been sent for."

 

Sôjirô laughed.  "Well, that sounds like good news.  So Battousai - or Himura-san, I should say - survived after all."

 

"Don't look so happy, idiot.  For all _you_ know, that swordsman could lie and watch you hang."

 

"Is that why you're smiling, then?" Sôjirô said knowingly.

 

"Maybe so, after what you did to me!"

 

"Oh, dear," Sôjirô sighed theatrically.  "Then I suppose I'd better compose my farewell speech...."

 

"Ah, shut up," Sanosuke finally gave in, stepping aside to let the guard with the keys through.  "But see if I ever trust you again, you little weasel!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin opened his eyes.  The first thing he saw was sunlight, pouring into the room through full-length windows.  Gingerly, he sat up, wincing and putting a hand to his chest when his body screamed pain at him.  He was actually somewhat surprised to be alive.  He might not have even had a chance against Shishio without Sôjirô's help; as it was, Kenshin was not sure the boy had survived.

 

He looked around, taking in the elaborate furnishings that marked the room as a guest suite in the Kamiya castle.  The sakabatô - he had trouble thinking of it as _his_ sword - had been carefully placed in a polished wooden stand across the room.  Kenshin climbed to his feet and took hold of the back of a light chair nearby.  He patiently pulled it along with him as he walked, needing to lean on it for support.

 

His wound still hurt...they all did, but particularly the one that Yumi had died for.  His heart was still heavy at the memory.  She had been an enemy, always an enemy, yet she had not deserved to be killed at the hand of her own lover.  She may have been smiling as she died, but Kenshin could not accept such a thing as right.  He could not bear the thought of someone he loved sacrificing herself in such a way, offering her own life for the sake of victory...such a thing would not taste of victory to him.

 

Kenshin stopped and bowed over, suddenly overcome.  Who was he, to be thinking of love?  The best he should be hoping for was the reclamation of his kingdom.  He should be concentrating on that, on what he had to do to get well and travel back home and gain the people's trust--

 

"Kenshin!"

 

He looked up, his heart recoiling in pain at the sound of her voice.  "Kaoru-hime."  He tried to smile for her.  "Thank you for taking care of this one once again, that is."

 

The princess frowned, shifting her grip on the water pitcher she carried in one hand and the roll of bandages in the other.  "Again with that 'sessha' thing.  And what's with the 'de-gozaru'?  Since when have you--"  Then she shook her head hard and broke into a smile.  "What am I fussing about?  Kenshin, it's so good to finally see you awake!"  She dumped her things down on a table and went to him.  "Um...."  She felt awkward when he did not speak.  "I...I'm really glad that things...turned out the way they did."

 

"It is good to see you safe, that it is," he finally said, his expression a strange mix of pleasure and sadness.

 

She smiled shyly and pushed a lock of hair back behind her ear.  "I was really worried, you know, especially when I first found you.  You were barely breathing, and there was so much _blood_ , I would never have been able to get you back home if Yahiko hadn't come back to help me."  She shook her head.  "Disobeying orders, the little brat, but I guess you'd be dead if he hadn't.  Of course, then we found Sôjirô-kun collapsed on the way back, and had to drag _him_ home, too...good thing we still had enough horses, since we--"

 

Kenshin gently broke through her nervous babbling.  "This one asks your forgiveness, Kaoru-hime."

 

She blinked at the earnest look on his face.  "Huh?"

 

"It was this one's intention to let you choose your own path, but then...."  He sighed a little, then dipped his head respectfully.  "In any case, the situation has changed, that it has.  Shishio Makoto is now dead, and you are no longer bound to marry."  He smiled in a way that was meant to be comforting.  "This one has become free to return to his country, so your father need not fear war."

 

She realized that her mouth was hanging open, so she closed it.  "What...are you talking about?"

 

He gave her a puzzled look.

 

"I mean...you're just leaving?  You're--"  She cut herself off before she could finish.  _You're rejecting me, after all that's happened?_   "Fine," she said loftily, forcing back tears.  "Your kingdom _is_ important, after all.  You should recover and get back as soon as you can.  Of course you wouldn't have time for a fickle, inconvenient princess."  _Oops-- better stop before I give myself away._   "I'll send someone else in to tend to you, I just remembered I've got something to do.  Good luck."

 

She started to leave, but was brought up short when he caught her arm.  They stood like that for a second, frozen.  Then she turned her head to see that he was staring at his hand on her arm like he could not believe it was his own.  Finally, he raised his eyes to hers.  "Kaoru-hime," he said hesitantly.  "You...you weren't there, were you?  After the battle?"

 

There was her mouth, hanging open again.  "You don't remember?"

 

He shook his head.  "This one was near death, that he was.  Such memories are not very clear."

 

She swallowed.  "So you don't remember when I...."  She could feel her face burning red, and looked away to hide it.

 

"You were there," he whispered.  "But you can't have said--"

 

"Said what?"  She glared at him, her tone hot and challenging.  "Said that I-- said silly things to an ungrateful dying man ten years older than me, you mean?  Well...maybe I did.  Why?" she demanded, hostility masking her apprehension.

 

He said nothing, and Kaoru grew more and more angry until she realized that his hand on her arm was trembling.  He finally took a deep breath.  "Is there any chance that Princess Kaoru would submit to a marriage to this Battousai after all?"

 

"Why do you say it like that?" she said in exasperation.  "You act like I'd _hate_ being married to you!  Married to that boy...who gave me wings to fly."  Her cheeks were well and truly on fire.  Yet she forced herself to look into his face, and was gratified to see comprehension dawning there.

 

"So it _was_ you," he whispered.  "You _do_ remember."  Something like light broke over his face, and he told her softly, "There was no strength to tell you before, but...this one has loved you as well, that he has."

 

Her relief burst from her in a rather un-ladylike stream of laughter, and she flung her arms around his neck.  "Oro?!"  He went stiff at first, but then his own arms came up to circle hesitantly around her, returning the embrace.

 

Kaoru laughed again when she heard the low sound of his chuckle.  "I never thought I'd be happy to be getting married," she murmured, and pulled back to smile at him.  "But I am."  Then, as he smiled radiantly back at her, she reached up in wonderment to trace the faint pink cross on his cheek.

 

On the bedside table, placed in a little vase, the bare rose stem began to bud again, its reborn petals spreading out into the light.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Both the quote at the beginning of the chapter and the reference to the three roads (one leads to heaven, another to hell, and the third to Faerie) come from the ballad "Thomas the Rhymer."

 

 _The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ really is based on "Beauty and the Beast," but not as closely as I first intended.  Here are the similarities, since a lot of them are not very obvious:  Weary traveler seeks shelter from a snowstorm by breaking into a stranger's home, where he is well-treated; a maiden chooses to sacrifice her own happiness in order to preserve her father's life; a beast-prince proposes marriage to her, which she is reluctant to accept at first; an enchantress bestows a magical rose which imposes a deadline; in the Disney version, there is a rival suitor; at one point, after the beauty and beast have developed feelings for one another, they are separated; the maiden eventually rushes to the side of the dying beast, who is transformed when she agrees to marry him at last.  The rest was either from RuroKen, British folklore, or my own imagination.


	9. Chapter 9

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**_Part 2: Reclamation_ **

 

Summary:  Although finally freed from assassin's work, Kenshin can't afford to settle down with his new bride quite yet. Setting out to reclaim his kingdom and unaware that Kaoru and the others aren't simply waiting quietly for his return, Kenshin's real task is not defeating Senkaku, who has taken over in Shishio's absence - it is gaining the trust of his oppressed people. * **PERMANENTLY INCOMPLETE.***

 

**Prologue**

 

Night had fallen by the time the two children managed to continue on their way home.  The older one, a girl, darted nervous glances around them as she clutched a package tightly with one hand and her little brother's arm even tighter with the other.  These streets were not safe at night, and had not been since before the girl was born.

 

At the sound of heavy footsteps, the girl's breath quickened.  "Hurry, Ôta," she whispered urgently.

 

It was no use.  The men on night patrol had seen them, and they now closed in, grinning.  "What's this, little girl?" one of them purred.  "Out past curfew?  How very naughty of you children.  Lord Senkaku will surely not be pleased."

 

"We are, though," one of the others muttered, and all three burst into laughter.

 

"As if Senkaku would care about two little kids," she spat.  "You jerks just want to get your kicks picking on people who never did anything to you."

 

None of them were laughing now.  Eyes glittering, one of them said in a dangerous voice, "You'll want to watch how you talk about Lord Senkaku and his warriors."

_'Warriors?'_ she thought.  _'You weakling bullies don't deserve the name,'_ but this time, she held her tongue.

 

One of them shoved her so that she fell back against the wall.  She recovered quickly and pushed her little brother behind her.

 

"Say it again, girlie," one of them growled.  "The name of Lord Senkaku, with no respect at all.  It'll be the last thing you ever say."

 

She swallowed.  Her pride was strong, but there was Ôta to think of.  "Lord Senkaku," she whispered, "is a merciful ruler."  It was a sickening lie, but perhaps they would respond to the plea in her voice.

 

No such luck.  "Now that's more like it," one of them chuckled as his companions drew their swords.  "You're right, though - Lord Senkaku doesn't care what happens to a couple of snot-nosed kids."

 

She screamed when he seized her, but then a new voice cut through the darkness like steel.  "Let her go."

 

The guards turned, licking their lips at the thought of new prey to sharpen their swords on - but when they actually saw him, their faces grew terrified.

 

"Red hair...."

 

"That cross-shaped mark--"

 

"B-Battousai!"

 

The assassin stood cloaked in shadows, eyes glowing gold, but was unmistakably recognizable to all who knew his description.  "Step away from the children."

 

"Certainly," one of the guards said through a dry throat.  "Has Lord Shishio returned after all, then?" he asked shakily.

 

"No," the red-haired figure replied in a cold voice.  "He is dead, that he is."

 

The reactions from both the guards and the children were palpable.  "Dead?!" one of them burst out.  "But that means...!"

 

He fell to his knees, but one of his companions kicked him.  "Get up," he snarled.  "Lord Senkaku rules now, nothing's changed."

 

Kenshin smiled coldly.  "Oh, really.  So you think a mere henchman like Senkaku is any match for this one?"

 

The man paused.  Battousai had a point, but...what was with the wimpy 'sessha'?  Had he lost his touch, all these months in a foreign land?  The man smiled.  "Guess we'll see, eh?"

 

There was a pause.  "So the three of you cast your lot with this country's tyrant, rather than its true king."

 

"My sword belongs to whoever pays me," the guard said defiantly.  "You gonna make it worth my time?"

 

"Not if that's your attitude," Kenshin answered, preparing for battoujutsu.

 

"You fool, he's gonna kill us!" shouted another of the guards, and turned to flee.  He was felled before he had even taken a step, his rebellious companion an instant later; the third, still on his knees, had registered only a blur of motion before Battousai was suddenly before him, holding a sword to his throat.  He was too terrified to notice that the blade was reversed, that it was the dull edge facing his skin.

 

"Mercy!" he screamed.  "I'll swear allegiance to you this very minute!"

 

"Such an oath would be worthless, that it would.  This one has no use for men who would only serve out of fear, or who would attack helpless children."

 

"Forgive me, Master!"  He crawled over to the girl and tried to kiss her feet.

 

Disgusted at his cowardly groveling, she kicked him away.  "Don't you touch me!"  She raised angry eyes to Kenshin.  "And you, as if you're much better!  Killing anyone who doesn't do what you want!  Why did Dad think you'd be any different from Shishio?!"

 

Kenshin smiled a little and held the sakabatô so she could see its shape.  "This sword can kill no one, as you see.  It is the only sword this one will ever wield again."

 

The girl gasped.  "Ohhh...!"  She raised her eyes to his.  "Your...Majesty...."  She curtsied.  "My name is Higashidani Uki, and this is my brother, Ôta.  We have been...waiting."

 

He nodded.  "If the rest of the people think the same, Uki-dono, you will not have to wait much longer, that you will not."  As she blushed, he suddenly turned and said, his voice  harsh again, "Now, where do you think you're going?"

 

The soldier, who had been trying to crawl away, froze and whimpered.  "N-Nowhere, my lord!"

 

"Good, since this one is not finished with you yet."  Kenshin turned back to Uki, his face melting back into warm sweetness.  "What are you doing out on the streets at this hour?"

 

"We got held up," she admitted.  "We were supposed to have been home hours ago.  Dad is probably worried sick."

 

Kenshin glanced over his shoulder and nodded.  A second lithe figure emerged from the shadows, smiling cheerfully.  "Sôjirô here will escort you home.  You can trust him."

 

"Thank you," Uki said fervently.  "We'll spread the news of your return!"

 

"No," Kenshin said softly.  "Please, not yet.  I fear that reclamation won't be so easy."

 

Sobered, the girl nodded, then eyed Sôjirô appraisingly before starting to lead the way home.

 

Kenshin turned back to the soldier on the ground.  "Now, back to business."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  In case you haven't read the manga, Uki & Ôta are Sanosuke's younger siblings.


	10. Chapter 10

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Reclamation_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 1 [censored version]  
**

 

"One last thing," Tomoe said as they were about to leave their new quarters.  The dormitory was empty now, the bedding neatly folded and all personal belongings packed away.

[. . .] 

"Having second thoughts?" Megumi smirked.  "Want Tomoe-san to whisk you back home so you can wait for Ken-san like a good little wife?"

 

"No way," Kaoru said hotly.  She had not come this far only to back out now.  "Thank you, Tomoe-san," she said firmly.  "Your help is appreciated."

 

Tomoe smiled.  "You're welcome.  I will keep an eye on you two and on the boy, but please keep your rose close also, Kaoru-san.  It will offer some protection."  The women bowed to each other, and then Tomoe disappeared to check on Yahiko.

 

Kaoru took a deep breath.  "Well," she said, squaring her shoulders, "shall we go?"

 

"After you, Kaoru-san," Megumi said with a grin.  For a moment, Kaoru was startled at the honorific, but then remembered they were supposed to be equals now.  Straightening her new uniform one last time, she and Megumi left to start their new duties.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"I can't believe how much this place has changed," Sanosuke muttered.

 

"What was that?" Yahiko asked, glancing up at him.  The two were wandering the streets near the palace, looking for a likely situation that would both suit Sanosuke and be useful for their purpose.

 

Sanosuke flapped a hand dismissively.  "Ah, nothing.  You better get back, they'll be looking for you."

 

Yahiko shook his head, making an aggravated noise.  "Of all the stupid things," he complained.  "I'm stuck as a kitchen boy, then I escape and get to go on an undercover mission - as a _kitchen boy_!"

 

"Don't complain, kid, you're the only one protecting the princess now.  Speaking of which, you better get back there before some thug tries to cop a feel on Her Highness."

 

Yahiko stiffened.  "Y-You don't really think anyone'd do anything like that to her, do you?"

 

Sanosuke eyed him.

 

"Yeah, all right, I'm going!" Yahiko exclaimed, both worried and annoyed.  "You'll be around, though, right?"

 

"Yep."  Sanosuke was looking over at some sort of half-constructed wing of the castle, where workers were bustling around under the direction of a large, bulky man who said little but had a commanding presence.

 

"Is that the foreman?"

 

"Only guy around who looks the part.  Mission accomplished, now get out of here."

 

"One day," Yahiko grumbled, "one day I will do something _important_ for once...."

 

Sanosuke rolled his eyes and went to get himself hired.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin, his hair and eyes glamoured black and his birthmark hidden by the same means, walked the streets of the capital with his sword hidden under a cloak.  He was unhappy to see even more soldiers patrolling than had been usual under Shishio's rule - it seemed that Senkaku doubted his ability to control the people.  Even as he watched, a sudden commotion broke out near a tool shop.

[. . .] 

"Shut up!"  The soldiers, not to be dissuaded, knocked him to the ground; then they turned with relish back to their prey.  Some of the passersby were hurrying along on their business, eager to get away; others had stopped to stare with angry helplessness.  Only a very few seemed eager to watch the coming cruelty, and those tended to be more richly dressed.

 

Kenshin's hand was already on the sakabatô's hilt when a man's authoritative voice cut through the tension.  "It seems to me that if the soldiers of Senkaku are so worried about thieving, they ought to look first to their own ranks."

 

The soldiers turned on the speaker furiously.  He was a tall, good-looking man, and though his clothes were old and shabby, they were neat and clean, the rest of his appearance treated with similar care.  He faced them with quiet confidence, even though he had no weapon.  "Katsura-sama," the crowd was whispering in relieved excitement.  "It's Katsura-sama...."

 

Kenshin narrowed his eyes, stepped back, and watched quietly.

 

"You!" the enraged soldier exclaimed, drawing his sword at once.  "You dare show your face, with the price you've got on your head?!  Heheh, Lord Senkaku'll be pleased to get his hands on you at last!"

 

"Do you really think you'll be the one to capture me, you fool?" Katsura murmured.

 

One of his antagonists grinned and spread his arms mockingly.  "Three swords against an unarmed civilian.  Looks like a no-brainer to me."

 

 _'Are_ all _minions this stupid?'_ Kenshin wondered.  Wasn't it obvious that this Katsura person would not be facing them so calmly if he was not perfectly confident of handling them?

 

It was quick, almost too quick.  One soldier made an enthusiastic though graceless charge, yelling; Katsura calmly plucked a pitchfork out of a bystander's hands and used it to thrust his attacker's sword aside.  With the same movement, even as the soldier was processing the fact that he was now wide open, Katsura brought up a leg to kick him in the throat.  The choking soldier's weakened grasp made it quite easy for Katsura to twist the pitchfork and get the sword settled into his own hand.

 

 _'Nice,'_ Kenshin thought mildly.

 

The other two soldiers, enraged, came at Katsura simultaneously, one on each side.  Katsura ducked them both so he could thrust the sword through the still-coughing man's chest, then rolled into his continuing momentum out of harm's way.  Kenshin sucked in a breath as he watched the first soldier gurgling to death before him.  Not this...he had firmly put killing behind him, and the renewed sight of it sickened him.

 

The other two soldiers, having nearly crashed into each other in the wake of Katsura's little maneuver, straightened and were immediately forced to defend against their opponent's lightning-quick strikes.  There were so few of them, the men were within a hair's breadth of death; Kenshin barely had time to stride forward and meet Katsura's blade with his own.  "No killing," he said quietly to Katsura's surprised, annoyed expression.

 

Almost in the same breath, Kenshin sent a sleep-spell into the two remaining soldiers, so that they dropped like rocks and lay sprawled unconscious in the street.

 

"They're scum," Katsura said, eyes narrowing as he obviously wondered whether to take on Kenshin next.

 

Kenshin sheathed his sword and stepped back in a peaceful stance.  "They cannot hurt you if we leave before they awaken."  He raised his eyebrows questioningly.  "Allow me to buy you a drink?"

 

Katsura studied him for a moment distrustfully, then glanced out at the agitated crowd.  Most were glaring contemptuously at the fallen bodies, but a few were looking outraged at Katsura's and Kenshin's audacity in attacking warriors of Lord Senkaku.

 

"Fine," Katsura said shortly.  "I'll hear you out, but I make no promises."

 

Kenshin nodded.  "That is all I ask for."

 

Even in broad daylight, in the middle of that crowd, it was like the two men had vanished.  No one remembered in which direction they had gone, or even, when more soldiers later showed up to investigate the disturbance, anything about what Katsura-sama's accomplice had looked like.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

She couldn't believe how hard cleaning was.  How did her servants _do_ this all day, six days a week?!  Not only was her body achingly tired after only a few hours of this, but her efforts seemed to be making things worse rather than better.

 

Megumi caught sight of her and acquired a very interesting facial expression.  "Kaoru-san!" she hissed, hurrying over.  "Can't you at least _pretend_ to know what you're doing?"

 

Kaoru looked down helplessly at the section of wet floor she was attempting to clean, which looked dirtier than when she had started.  "I _am_!  How am I supposed to do it any different?  She said get the mop wet and wipe the floor with it, so that's what I'm doing!  I swear I don't know _where_ all those mud trails came from."

 

"From your feet," Megumi said in exasperation.  She neatly plucked the mop out of Kaoru's hands and wrung it into the nearby bucket of soapy gray water.  "For one thing, you're supposed to wring out the mop each time, _before_ you use it on the floor, otherwise it gets sopping wet and takes much too long to dry.  For another thing, _start_ in a corner and work your way out, don't walk all over what you just mopped!"

 

Kaoru looked from her friend to the floor.  "Oh."  Then she frowned in annoyance.  "How did you figure that out so quick, anyway?"

 

"I didn't just figure it out.  Before we left, I asked the maids to spend a couple of days training me.  Did it not even occur to you to prepare?  Or did you just think that, as a female, you were born magically knowing how to clean?"  It was a good thing Tomoe had charmed the steward who'd hired them, or Kaoru would have been turned away at the door.

 

Kaoru's head came up haughtily, even though she was secretly mortified.  "I'll have you know that I prepared quite a bit," she said.  Then she wilted a little.  "Just...it's just that a person can't think of _everything_ , you know?  Lay off, Megumi!"

 

Megumi sighed and shook her head, though she found herself smiling a little.  "Just stick close to me."

 

Just then, one of the senior maids came hurrying up, looking pinched and harried.  Kaoru and Megumi immediately straightened up, not wanting to be the objects on which she vented her frustration.  "Man's hurt," the woman snapped, "Dr. Gensai needs an assistant.  One of you come with me."

 

Kaoru instinctively glanced at Megumi, wondering what she should do, but her disguised lady-in-waiting was already briskly setting aside her mop and straightening her clothes.  "I don't really have any medical experience," she said, "but I'm not squeamish around blood."

 

"Good.  His previous assistant was executed last week and he hasn't had time to find a proper replacement.  He just needs someone to hand him things, wash things, run errands, that sort of thing; anyone with a strong stomach will do.  Come with me."

 

Megumi did so, making a face at Kaoru over her shoulder.

 

 _'Executed?'_ the princess thought a little queasily.  Somehow, she had the feeling that it hadn't been for any crime deserving of such a fate.  _'I hate this place.  Kenshin....'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Katsura surveyed him coolly.  "If you oppose Senkaku, why haven't I heard of you before?  We tend to know our allies, even if we never meet."

 

The two of them were sitting in a corner of a tavern, drinking slowly and speaking too softly to be overheard.

 

"This one just arrived last night," Kenshin explained.  "The intention is to take Senkaku out of power and restore the rulership to what it should be, but this one needs to get a feel for how things stand first, that he does."  He made a little face.  "Things are not well.  One will have to tread cautiously."

 

Katsura narrowed his eyes.  "'Restore the rulership to what it should be.'  According to whom?"

 

Kenshin hesitated before answering.  Among other things, there was also the possibility that this man might be a rogue, uninterested in the old kings.  "According to the Himuras."

 

Katsura let out a mirthless gust of laughter and shook his head.  "The Himuras.  All dead, except a vanished murderer.  You're mad."

 

"Not vanished," Kenshin said, very quietly.  "And a murderer - never again."

 

There was a pause.  Katsura studied him closely.  "Himura Kenshin," he said slowly.  "The last surviving member of the royal line.  Slave and assassin for Shishio Makoto.  I'm not sure I would want him for a king even if he _did_ come back."  The next words were challenging.  "Besides, he has red hair and a cross-shaped birthmark on his left cheek."

 

Kenshin sighed.  "He also has some small ability in the way of fey glamour."

 

Katsura's expression did not change, though his breath quickened a little.  After a long moment, Kenshin casually put his hand up by the left side of his face, as if leaning on it.  The gesture shielded part of his face and a lock of hair from view, both of which he briefly removed the glamour from.  Then he lowered his hand, his hair once again completely black and his face unmarked.

 

Katsura was still.  Then he said, visibly trying to keep his composure, "Never again?"

 

"Each killing weighs heavily on the heart," Kenshin said softly.  "If anything could have been done to avoid such work, short of ending this one's own life, it would have been done."  Then he closed his eyes.  "Perhaps this life _should_ have ended...but I couldn't, even if it was wrong to cling so hard to life."  He opened his eyes again.  "A slave and an assassin, those words were once true.  But that path was always hated, and now this one is free to make his own choices, that he is.  I chose this kingdom and this responsibility, that I did.  Will you help me, Katsura?"

 

Katsura did not want to trust the man before him, but he had been looking into those sorrowful blue eyes, and he felt in his heart that it would be wrong to do other than have faith in such a strong spirit.  So he smiled.  "Yes."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The foreman's expression was not impressed.  "We're not so desperate that we'll hire scrawny kids off the street for such work," he said in a low, rumbling voice.

 

Sanosuke glared.  He wore an open shirt, after all; couldn't the man see his abs?  "I'm stronger than I look...sir."  Even remembering, just in time, not to call the man a punk or something similar, it was still hard to go against his inclination and use a term of polite address.

 

"Hmph.  We'll see.  Start over there, stacking blocks along the row.  Ôtani will come behind you to mortar them."

 

Sanosuke looked at the huge blocks of stone that would ordinary take two men to lift each.  He forgot to not roll his eyes.  "Sure thing, boss."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The first night was a difficult one.  Kaoru tossed and turned, unused to having to share sleeping space with so many other people.  The maids chattered and gossiped loudly all throughout their bedtime preparations, and even after lights out, many of them stayed up late, their eager whispers grating on Kaoru's ears.

 

For the first time, she appreciated what it was like to have her own vast bedroom and servants to attend to every slightest need and whim.  This new arrangement was going to take some getting used to; Kaoru was just thankful it wasn't permanent.  She did not even have the comfort of her friend - hard as it was to get to sleep, she was long gone by the time Megumi stumbled in, yawning and covered with blood.  The older woman simply stripped off her stained garments and fell into bed next to Kaoru, too tired to do anything else.

 

Meanwhile, as Yahiko shifted uncomfortably on a cold stone floor and Sanosuke snored on a poorly-stuffed straw mattress, Kenshin found himself being hosted by some friends of a friend of Katsura's - apparently, the friend himself was in jail.  "Is he, now," Kenshin murmured neutrally.

 

"Shinsaku organized a mutiny among Senkaku's own guards," Katsura explained.  "It would have worked had he been less impatient.  Too many men turned coward at the last minute, the plans collapsed, and the remainder fought bravely, but were slaughtered.  As their leader, he's set for execution in a few days - by that time, it will probably a relief to him."

 

Kenshin's fist clenched at the thought of what tortures the man might have been put through.  "Then it seems that this one's first move is now clear, that it is."

 

Katsura raised a skeptical eyebrow.  "You plan to free Shinsaku?  Whisk him to safety out from the noses of all the guards swarming in the heart of the castle's dungeons?"

 

"This one will do what must be done."

 

Katsura gave him a measuring look.  "Well then, my friend - prove to me what you can do."

 

"Can I count on you, Katsura?"

 

The other man sighed.  "Shinsaku is my friend.  Even if he wasn't, I'm at least interested in seeing how well you back up your claim, Himura.  I will support you for now."

 

"Thank you, Katsura.  That is all this one asks."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  The foreman is Anji, btw.  Sanosuke eventually learns the Futae no Kiwami from him.


	11. Chapter 11

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Reclamation_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 2**

 

It was a shock to Kaoru when she realized that she had never truly understood the definition of the word "early."  The _sun_ had not even risen when she was shaken out of bed by an angry housekeeper.

 

"I'm sleepy," she grumbled.  "Leave me alone."  That earned her a slap across the face and a threat of being dismissed.  Kaoru was so stunned that for a minute, she was too outraged to react.  Luckily, Megumi got to her in time, dragging her out of bed and making profuse apologies to the housekeeper before hustling Kaoru off with a hard pinch.

 

"Get _dressed_ and get to work," Megumi hissed fiercely into her ear.  "You are a _servant_ now."

 

"Oh...oh yeah," Kaoru murmured, feeling disoriented.  It seemed like there were a lot of things she had not taken into account when she had come up with this plan.

 

Megumi sounded very impatient, though also ever-so-slightly amused.  "Here's your apron and your kerchief.  Quickly now.  You'll find that the only time you'll get noticed is when you're doing something wrong."

 

Being a servant seemed like the hardest work Kaoru had ever done in her life.  Throughout the day, she found herself cleaning out fireplaces, scrubbing floors, plucking the feathers from dead birds (a _disgusting_ task that made her almost want to swear off fowl for life), waiting on arrogant jerks, dodging the inappropriately-placed hands of leering noblemen, and ruining so many cooking projects that she was actually pulled aside and _beaten_ by the head cook.

 

At first, she was too shocked to cry out, then she was too preoccupied with biting her lips to keep herself from yelling things that would give herself away.  Then she was too busy trying to hold back tears that she forgot anything dangerous she might have wanted to say, and finally, she vowed to do a thorough investigation when she got home and assure herself that no servant was EVER beaten in her household.

 

The pain and humiliation of the experience threatened to consume her, and it seemed like insult to injury when she was not even allowed to slink off to lick her wounds afterwards, but was instead ordered to go and clean out the henhouses.  "I--!" she started to shout.  _"--hate it here!!!"_ ended up as only a raging whisper, but the cook struck her once more for good measure and would have literally kicked her out the door if she hadn't shuffled aside just in time.  "Remember what you're here for," Kaoru told herself angrily.  _"Remember."_   She limped out as fast as she could go.

 

Meanwhile, Sanosuke was having an easier time of it.  The labor was hard and there was a serious lack of water provisions, but he was young and strong and up to the task.  He tirelessly worked on, lifting and carrying and lifting and carrying, though the task was so mind-numbing that he started to get very restless by midmorning.  Only the frequent, assessing glances of the foreman kept him in check - he couldn't act up now, he had to behave and earn the guy's trust so that he would be able to do his real work later.  He wondered how the others were doing, and if they were chafing as much as he was....

 

Yahiko would have asserted that he was.  Kept running back and forth on errands, cuffed and spoken to so rudely that he kept coming within a hair's breadth of making even ruder retorts and getting kicked out, the boy's greatest struggle was maintaining self-control.

 

Eventually, he figured out that nodding and smiling like he imagined Kenshin would tended to work better than gritting his teeth and making sulky faces.  Just as he was perfecting this art, he nearly lost it again when he went out into the yard to get some eggs and found Kaoru dragging herself around, disheveled and with bruises marking her flesh.

 

"Did someone beat you up?!  Who did this to you?!"

 

"I'm doing this for Kenshin," she nearly spat at him.

 

"Huh?  What's that have to do with--?"

 

She looked at him, and he found himself falling silent.  "...Yahiko?"

 

"Yeah?" he said cautiously.

 

"...Do you think I'm a strong person?"

 

He was caught by surprise.  "Uh...sure."

 

Her expression hardened.  Yahiko rarely felt true awe when in Kaoru's presence, but at the moment, she looked every inch a princess.

 

"I'm doing this for Kenshin," she said again.  "I'm not going to let anything get me down.  I'm sure others have had it far worse."

 

"Kaoru-hime," Yahiko said slowly, "it's really...I really hate seeing you like this.  It means I wasn't there for you, that I failed.  I wish I could have stopped you from getting hurt."

 

She smiled a little.  "Well, I can't exactly have you go beat up the head cook for me," she said regretfully, "even though that was a total, _total_ overreaction...."

 

"Wait, overreaction?  You mean she got mad at you for something _you_ did?"

 

"Hey, it's not like it's a crime to be a bad cook!"

 

A slow smile crept over Yahiko's face.  "Hey, that means that _I_ can cook better than you.  That is so sad, you can't even compete with a ten-year-old boy."

 

"Ooooh, why are you so _rude_?!"

 

He laughed.  "Have to admit, though, you're the only one who'd ever put up with my backtalk.  I never told you before, but...thanks."

 

She stared at him.  "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Yahiko?"

 

"Talk about rude!  I _can_ be nice, you know!"

 

"You call that nice?!"

 

"Take what you can get, busu-hime!"

 

"I really am gonna hit you!"

 

Yahiko opened his mouth for another retort, then suddenly paused.

 

"You look like you just had an idea," she said warily.

 

"Hey...Kaoru...how would you like to learn how to use a sword?"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Katsura's spy network already had information on the prison layout, the guard rotations, and some good guesses as to where Takasugi was probably being held.  Since the last rescue attempt had gone horribly wrong, Kenshin insisted that no one accompany him except Sôjirô and Katsura.

 

"You really think we can pull this off without killing anyone?" Katsura asked doubtfully.

 

"Don't worry," Sôjirô assured him, "we're getting skilled at this sort of thing."

 

"Do you think it's _wise_ to pull this off without killing anyone?" was Katsura's next, more pointed question.

 

"It would be better to reveal our faces and become targets than allow a single life to be extinguished.

 

"You're making me despair a bit for the mission," Katsura said wryly, "but at least it bodes well for your potential kingship."

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Reclamation_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Extra scene**

**A/N:  Takes place between _The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_ and _Reclamation_ (it's a flashback).**

 

o.o.o

 

_"Tomoe."_

 

The enchantress blinked, and her hands in the Faerie Queen's hair went still.

 

_"Tomoe."_

 

Titania chuckled.  "Selfish boy - he's calling for you again, isn't he."

 

_"Tomoe."_

 

"Well.  Better go see what he wants."

 

Tomoe's thoughts were a whirl.  _'Why...would he be calling for me?'_   Why now, when he finally had the chance to be at peace?  Why was he still calling for her when...when he had Kaoru-san now?

 

_"...Tomoe?"_

 

"The poor boy's getting anxious," Titania laughed, though her eyes had a hard glint in them.  "Aren't you going to answer?"

 

"My lady," Tomoe said softly, still shaken.  "I have not finished--"

 

The queen waved a hand dismissively.  "For heaven's sake, I have plenty of other maids to dress my hair for me.  Go find the boy, I'm curious."

 

Tomoe swallowed.  "Yes, my lady."  She set down the brush and stepped across to the human realm.

 

He was waiting for her in Kaoru's garden, his expression tense and apprehensive.  The moonlight played over his strange hair and the noticeably faded birthmark on his face.  What on earth could be wrong?  "Kenshin," she said softly.

 

He drew in a deep breath.  "Tomoe.  This one needs to speak with you, that he does."

 

The speech pattern surprised her.  She knew that something about him was different, that he had somehow changed in the moment when he allowed himself to love Kaoru.  She had not realized what odd forms the transformation would take.  This new apparent humility...she could not decide how she felt about it.  Was it a sign that his self-protective shields were crumbling, or had his guilt had simply found a different outlet?

 

Tomoe sat down on a bench and invited him with her eyes to do the same.  He sat gingerly, on the very edge.  "Have you and Kaoru-san had an argument, perhaps?"

 

He looked at her in surprise.  "An argument?"

 

She gazed at him, trying to read him.  It was no longer as easy as it had once been...in some ways, he was like a different person now.  "You are engaged to be married to another woman," she said quietly.  "Yet you still call to me."

 

He looked away.  "That's what this one...wanted to talk to you about, that he did."

 

It couldn't be.  Tomoe smiled a little, even as tears stung her eyes.  "Don't tell me you're feeling guilty about _this_ , of all things.  I thought I had made myself clear on this matter long ago."

 

"I love you."  The words shot out of him almost angrily.  "This one will never stop loving you - he _cannot_."  He shut his eyes and sucked in a deep breath.  "But...I love her, too."  Silence fell, as if he was waiting for some sort of verdict.

 

"Kenshin."  She saw what an effort it took him to meet her eyes.  "I've told you before, and I tell you again now.  I love you.  I want you to be happy."  She found herself nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  " _I want you to be happy._   You will not find happiness with me."

 

"Tomoe, I told you--"

 

"I know.  You are willing to endure the sort of half-life that is all I could ever offer you...and I am truly grateful for that.  But when you could have so much more, Kenshin?"

 

He was silent...conflicted, which was a good thing.

 

"She is free in a way that neither of us are," Tomoe said softly.  "You need that, Kenshin.  So much of your life has been and will be full of hardship and betrayal.  You need someone who is free to support you with all her heart.  You need a foothold out of the darkness.  You need her."

 

"Yes--"  His voice was full of emotion.  "Yes, this one needs her.  So much.  _But what about you, Tomoe?_   You still need me, just as much as this one needs her.  I can't just - _abandon_ you!"

 

Selfish.  It was selfish, wasn't it, to soak this up?  To let it feel so warm?  He wasn't hers anymore.  Yet to know that he still loved her like this, it felt so, so good.

 

"Kenshin."  She couldn't tell him, not yet, about the small new light in her life, because she was still fighting that light, determined not to lose it as she had lost Kenshin.  "I chose her for you."  That much was true.  "She found you on her own, and I kept her on the path.  She was meant for you.  Please...this is my gift to you.  Do not refuse it, or spoil it with your wavering."

 

He was fiddling with the sword he had not yet gotten used to, her other gift to him.  "Now you're starting to sound like Shishô."

 

"For all his lack of tact, Hiko-san is very wise," she said gravely.  "Stand firm, Kenshin.  Be strong.  Don't look back.  You know your place and your duty, and for that, you must look forward."

 

His mouth tightened in a grim line.  He had known that already...he just didn't like it.  Isn't that why he had called her, after all?

 

"Kenshin...how many times must I say good-bye to you?"

 

He finally looked at her then.  "This one keeps hurting you," he said softly.

 

"Yes."

 

He stared at her.  Opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head.  Then said in a low voice, "Forgive me."

 

"Always."

 

She said it so quickly that he looked at her again in surprise.  "It's every time, isn't it.  Every time you are wronged, you always forgive me."

 

"If only we could do the same for you.  Right?"  It was too serious to be teasing.  They both knew how many enemies he had, how many people thought of him with hatred.

 

"Tomoe...isn't there anything this one can do for you?  Please.  It's just...."

 

"Be happy," she said softly.  "That is what I want from you most of all.  Please be happy.  You have your chance now:  take it."

 

He scuffed his foot against the grass.  "It seems so selfish of me."

 

"Now _you_ are sounding like Hiko-san," she said dryly.  "Selfish as you are, Kenshin, it's the most selfless selfishness I've ever seen.  It's part of the reason why I could not help loving you."

 

"'Couldn't help,'" he repeated, his turn for wryness.  "So if you'd had a choice, you would never have loved me."

 

"Of course."

 

He looked at her in surprise, then smiled humorlessly.  "Of course.  Because you can't afford to love, can you."

 

She was silent.  They both knew it was true.

 

"But neither can this one.  Don't you see?  Neither of us can afford to love...yet somehow, love has found this one anyway.  This one, but not you.  It's not--"

 

"Of course it isn't," she said softly.  Life was never fair.  Not for mortals, not for the fae.  "That is why you accept the gifts you are offered, just as you accept the hardships."

 

He nodded, then looked at her again.  "If this one ever finds a way to free you, you will be freed."

 

She looked at him in surprise, and hope tinged with sadness.  He had said _if_.  "So you've finally accepted it."  That she never expected to be free.

 

His eyes were hard.  "This one doesn't like it, and has not given up hope that there might still be a chance.  But...yes.  I've accepted it."  He could do no less, now that there was Kaoru to think of.

 

Tomoe smiled.  "Thank you."  For letting go at last.

 

"This one does not want to hurt you anymore."

 

"Yes."

 

A long moment of silence hung between them.  He shifted, went still again.  Then he picked up her hand and kissed it, very softly.  "Good-bye, Tomoe."

 

"Good-bye, Kenshin," she whispered.  "I will be watching over you."

 

"I know," he whispered back.  "You always have.  From the bottom of this one's heart...thank you."

 

They rose and parted ways, neither of them looking back.

xXxXxXx

Author's Notes:  So...yeah.  This story has languished for years on my flash drive, and I finally gave up.  I still love the RuroKen manga as much as ever, but I'm simply not interested in writing fanfiction for it anymore.  I want to get all my old projects out of the way, whether complete or not, so that they will no longer stress me out.  Sorry, guys.  Ftr, Senkaku is defeated, Kenshin & Kaoru and their allies are all reunited, Kenshin is crowned the true king of his own country with Kaoru as his wife, and everyone lives happily ever after (eventually).


	12. Chapter 12

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**_Part 3: The Princess and the Assassin_ **

Summary:  What was it like for Kenshin as young Hitokiri Battousai, forced to carry out assassinations for Shishio Makoto? How did he meet the enchantress Tomoe, and what happened between them long ago? Prequel to _The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose_.

 

**Prologue - from "The Ballad of Tam Lin"**

_Out then spoke the Queen of Fairies,_

_Out of a bush of broom,_

_"Them that has gotten young Tam Lin_

_Has gotten a stately groom."_

_Out then spoke the Queen of Fairies,_

_And an angry woman was she,_

_"Shame betide her ill-fared face,_

_And an ill death may she die,_

_For she's taken away the bonniest knight_

_In all my company._

_"But had I known, Tam Lin," said she,_

_"What now this night I see,_

_I would have taken out thy two grey eyes,_

_And put in two eyes of wood."_

**Chapter 1 - "No woman belongs in a life like mine."**

The dimly-lit chaos of the Unseelie hall surged and parted as a gang of soldiers burst in.  They were dragging a prisoner with them, a scrawny youth with long red hair.

 

King Oberon's laugh boomed through the room.  "Ha ha ha!  And what have you brought me tonight, men?"

 

"Seelie scum," one of them announced, flinging the boy to his knees and maliciously driving a boot into his back.

 

"Found 'im wandering in our territory," another laughed, aiming a glob of spit at the boy's now-empty hand.  "He was carrying these."  The fell knight pulled free a pair of swords and brandished them before the laughter of the court.

 

The princess, sitting demurely beside her father's throne as usual, watched the proceedings with cloaked eyes, while her younger brother leaned forward with a gleeful smile.

 

"So, this little redhead thinks himself a warrior, does he?" the king smirked.  He rose and approached the boy, who knelt quietly with his head hanging, making no move to resist the abuse of his captors.  The king placed the tip of his own sword under the prisoner's chin and raised it, but the boy's face was obscured by trailing bangs.  Oberon clicked his tongue and let the kid's head drop again.  "You have nothing to say?"  There was no answer, and Oberon shrugged.  "Very well.  What shall we do with him?"

 

A chorus of shouting swelled, gleeful suggestions for this or that.  "Roast him for tomorrow night's feast!"

 

"Make 'im dance his feet to tatters!"

 

"Give him to me, my lord, my latest love-toy is almost worn out."

 

"We could hack off that hair of his and strangle him with it--"

 

"No, string him up with it and make a puppet out of him!"

 

The dark fae shrieked with laughter and grew more and more excited at each suggestion.  Finally, a lean, muscular fae stepped forward, his eyes glowing red over a crazily-grinning mouth.  The court quieted at his physical assertion, for he was of high rank and had proven himself in battle, and was soon to become the king's son-in-law.

 

"Grant the Seelie brat to me, Your Majesty," the man suggested.  "I, Shigekura, will make good use of him before my comrades may dispose of him as they will."

 

A wave of chuckling swept through the room, chilling in its wicked anticipation.  The fae were startled, however, when the captive spoke up at last.

 

"Shigekura...is it?"  The boy raised his head, revealing narrowed eyes that glinted with enough icy steel to rival the toughest creature in that hall.  "So it was you who raped Junko-san."

 

Shigekura tilted his head in mock puzzlement.  "Who?"  The fae were chuckling and murmuring again, as they began to grasp what the situation may be about, but they kept it quiet, eager to see how the boy would respond.

 

He rose slowly to his feet, those eyes sending chills down the spines of his audience, though they would never have dared to admit it.  "She was a handmaid of the Faerie Queen.  She died because of what was done to her."

 

Shigekura shrugged with deliberate carelessness, watching the boy keenly as he did so.  "What of it?"

 

The boy was silent for a long time.  "No remorse, then."

 

Shigekura spread his hands and grinned.  "None whatsoever.  What are you going to do about it?"

 

Again, the boy was silent, and the fae found themselves holding their breaths.  Then he flashed into action, so suddenly that many of them missed it.  In an instant his weapons were back in his hands and he had flown at Shigekura, who was ready for him.  Steel clanged on admantine, the precious metal of the dark fae, whose touch was fatal to a Seelie.

 

Again and again the sound rang out, the combatants flashing here and there almost too quickly to follow with the eye.  The fae hurriedly scrambled for the edges of the room; the most cowardly escaped the scene of battle altogether.  A roaring rose, raucous encouragement to Shigekura and vicious slights to his small opponent.  It reached a fever pitch when one of Shigekura's strikes literally missed by a hair, so that a few long red strands drifted to the ground as the boy dodged.

 

"Slice him in half, Shigekura!" the Unseelie prince howled, now on his feet and riveted by every detail.  "Cut him to pieces!"

 

"Please sit down, Enishi," his sister told him calmly.  "You will get hurt if you are too close."  The combatants were in fact quite near the dais at this point.

 

"Shut up," he shot back distractedly, then cursed.  "He almost had him there!  I could have sworn--  FIRST BLOOD!  FIRST BLOOD!"  The crowd was bellowing along with him as Shigekura stumbled, blood spurting from a wound on his arm.  The Seelie kid waited, hard-faced and sword at the ready, for his enemy to recover and continue the fight.

 

Shigekura, head hanging and sword dangling near the ground, suddenly swiped outward; the boy jumped - and not just to avoid the blade swinging toward his legs.  He leapt high into the air, impossibly high by mortal standards, almost as if he was flying.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu:  Dragon Hammer Strike!"  The sword came crashing back down, and Shigekura was split from shoulder to hip.

 

The boy landed in the midst of deathly silence, his feet tapping the ground as lightly as if he had wings to slow his fall.  In deathly silence he slowly wiped the blade and watched his motionless enemy.  In deathly silence Shigekura suddenly seemed to explode with blood, which spattered the side of the boy's face and came raining down on the nearby prince and princess.  Shigekura crashed to his knees and went sprawling at the boy's feet, who whispered, "Junko-san, please rest now.  This man will never commit such a crime again."

 

The petrified court finally roared into action once again.  Some of them howled in shock and outrage, a few raced for Shigekura's corpse, but most of them surged toward the Seelie warrior in a furious wave.  The boy, however, had no intention of returning to the passive persona he had adopted during his entrance.  He leaped again into the air to elude them, twisting and turning to fend off their attacks.  His swords glittered like diamond whips, carving a circle of protection around him and spattering the ground with non-fatal blood.  "Get back," he warned coldly.  "Anyone who wishes to keep his life, retreat."

 

No one listened, of course.  Screaming, they charged at him with no heed to strategy or order; limbs went flying and blood sheeted into the air.  A skilled warrior pitted against an enraged rabble, the boy flitted here and there beneath the very noses of his attackers, eluding all their blades and clubs and fists, yet never missing with his own weapons.

 

The princess watched impassively, her eyes fixed on his lithe figure dancing amidst the chaos.  _'He is trying to escape,'_ she realized.  _'And he is trying to do so by causing as little harm as possible.'_   She sighed, then rose to her feet.  _'He won't get very far by trying to accomplish both at once.'_

 

The prince looked over at her in surprise.  "Neechan?"

 

The seething crowd parted for her almost magically.  Sweating, bleeding, cursing fae sensed her and backed away in haste, until she had approached the Seelie warrior where he stood within a ring of enemies.  Movement slowed and then stopped, all eyes fixed on her.

 

The red-haired boy said warily, his sword at the ready, "Please leave, before you get hurt."  The thought of a female, even an Unseelie, getting caught in a battle was sickening.

 

She rested her eyes on him, and noted with mild interest that he did not flinch at her gaze.  It was concern for her that showed on his face, mixed with tension as he kept alert to the enemies that surrounded him.

 

"It was my fiancé whom you just killed," she finally said.  His eyes snapped fully to her for a moment, and she indicated Shigekura's lifeless body on the floor.  "I am Tomoe, daughter of King Oberon.  I was pledged in marriage to this man, now slain by your hand."

 

The fae watched closely, eyes darting between her and the boy.

 

He finally said, his tone grim, "I cannot apologize."

 

"I do not expect you to."  She stepped closer and added, very quietly, "Nor do I wish you to."  She looked at him, and he nodded in understanding.

 

The fae began to chuckle again, their mood shifting capriciously as their battle-fury cooled.  Half-heard whispers were thrown back and forth, and the boy looked around uneasily, gripping his weapons.

 

Oberon rose from where he had been watching from his throne.  "Well, now," he called out, grinning mischievously.  "It seems my daughter is now short a fiancé.  We will have to find her a replacement."

 

The court's murmuring burst into shouts, as they playfully suggested this or that name.  Their eyes, however, glinted in anticipation, for they knew what the king was going to say next.

 

"It seems fitting, don't you think, that the one who slew her betrothed has now won the right of her hand?"

 

The Seelie boy frowned, as gleeful shouts rose up around him.  "What are you suggesting, King Oberon?  My purpose here is accomplished, I have no interest in a marriage alliance."

 

"Sorry, lad, but it seems you're a bit too late to stay uninvolved."  The king laughed heartily as he held up his hands - it took the boy a moment to see a glint of light and realize that the king was holding something like long thread.  He was puzzled to hear the Unseelie girl suck in a breath beside him.  "Congratulations!  May you live long and happily together!"  The king made a flinging motion, and the boy felt a brief sting on his wrist, but the sensation soon faded.  The fae around him were howling with mirth, some making obscene gestures and others calling out dirty jokes.

 

"Enough of this."  Sheathing his swords, the boy made a shallow bow to the king and turned to leave; no one seemed like they were going to stop him now.

 

There was a sudden stinging sensation on his wrist, and he heard a gasp and the clatter of shoes behind him.  He looked over his shoulder to find the Unseelie girl, Tomoe, straightening up as if she had just stumbled.  "Please don't walk so quickly," she told him in a flat voice.  "I will not be able to keep up with your usual pace."

 

He frowned.  "Why should you?"

 

She looked at him for a moment, as if he had said something unintelligent.  Then she raised her arm and tugged sharply.  He was amazed to find his own hand leap toward her of its own accord, his wrist stinging.  The watching fae burst into renewed laughter, and the boy finally understood.  It was a fairly common spell - a strand of his hair and a strand of hers, entwined around their wrists in order to bind them together.

 

He sighed.  "I do not have time for your Unseelie games."  Drawing his sword, he slashed it into the air between them, then turned to leave again.

 

His wrist stung, and there was a hurried step behind him, as if the girl was trying to keep up.  He frowned and looked back again.

 

Oberon chortled, "Now, I'm the Faerie King, boy!  You didn't think you'd be able to break one of _my_ spells as easily as that, did you?"

 

The boy stared at him, then at Tomoe, who returned his look with her own quiet gaze.  "Irritating, I know," she said calmly.  "You can imagine it is for me, too.  If I am to be stuck with you for an indeterminate length of time, it would be convenient to know what I may call you."  She ignored the court's rude suggestions for this.

 

He ignored them as well, musing silently on this new predicament.  Then he finally said, "The name I go by now is Battousai.  That will do until I find a way out of this."

 

Tomoe looked at him.  Then she stepped very close and said in a voice heard by his ears alone, "That may be longer than you think.  Perhaps you will be telling me another name before the end."

 

"I hope it will not come to that.  No woman belongs in a life like mine."

 

She looked at him and thought, even then, that he was wrong.

 

_To be continued...._

Author's Notes:  I borrowed the names Oberon and Titania from the fairy king and queen in Shakespeare's play _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.  However, the resemblance ends there; I based Titania's personality on the Faerie Queen in stories like "Tam Lin," and Oberon will simply behave in whatever way is convenient to the story.  The two of them are not married in this fic.

 

Uh...don't ask me why Tomoe's first fiancée ended up with Shigekura's name and Jin-e's looks. *sweatdrop*


	13. Chapter 13

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 2 - "Is your beauty meant to entrap me, then?"**

Lounging on his stolen throne, Shishio burst into laughter at the sight of his chief assassin.  "What's this, Battousai?  You were never interested in women before."

 

Battousai glared, his face coloring a little.  "Lord Shishio, I request to be excused from my next assignment."

 

"Why?" Shishio asked, still thoroughly amused.  "So you can shack up with your first wench?  Not a chance."

 

"I am not your only assassin," Battousai growled.  "Usui or Kamatari can take care of it just as well as I could."

 

"Yes," Shishio said sweetly, "but then I'd miss out on the amusement of watching you try to kill someone with a girl trailing from your wrist."

 

Battousai pressed his lips together.  Seeing that further argument would be pointless, he bowed and turned to leave the room, slowing his pace in order to allow Tomoe to keep up.

 

"Bye, Tomoe," Shishio called after them, his eyes gleaming.

 

Battousai froze in his tracks.

 

With her usual deliberate movements, Tomoe turned back and bowed.  "Good-bye, Shishio-san," she said quietly.  Then she continued on her way, murmuring to Battousai as she passed him, "We should be going."

 

Battousai resumed walking without a word, but his eyes were fixed on her suspiciously.  As soon as they were out of earshot of Shishio's men, Battousai jerked to a halt and demanded, "How do you know Shishio?"

 

Tomoe took her time answering.  "He is half-fae," she finally said.  "King Oberon knows him well."

 

 _'Of course,'_ Battousai thought bitterly.  _'Faerie is my only refuge, and now I find he's been invading that, too....'_

 

"What are you going to do?" Tomoe asked after a minute.  "Will you take me with you to assassinate your next target?"

 

He groaned, putting a hand to his face annoyance.  "It's impossible."

 

"Not impossible," she pointed out.  "I would probably get killed, but what is that to you?"

 

He shot her a dark look.  "You are used to your heartless Unseelie folk, but I am not such a one."  Right after that, however, he suddenly looked away and mumbled, "At least, that's the comforting lie I tell myself...."

 

She gazed at him without speaking.  Finally, she said, "It's not a lie.  Most of the men in my father's court would not put my safety before their own convenience."

 

He looked over at her with a small, humorless smile.  "Are you trying to make me feel better, or are you just stating facts?"

 

"Does it matter?" she shot back, a little too quickly.  As if to cover that, she raised her chin and said imperiously, "I ask again.  What are you going to do, Battousai?"

 

He cocked his head, frowning.  Out of curiosity, he asked, "What would _you_ like me to do?"

 

She stared back at him.  No one had ever asked her anything like that before.

 

"After all, _you're_ the one who will be affected.  Technically, I could slay a man with or without being bound to you - it doesn't make sense for you to have no input."

 

Tomoe said, very slowly, "You are my fiancé, at least for the moment.  I will defer to your decision."

 

"If I really was your fiancé, I would want to know your wishes."

 

"You Seelie men don't marry lightly, do you," she muttered, then glanced back at him.  "Or is it not that you are Seelie, but that you are...you?"

 

Choosing to ignore this, he simply shrugged.  "Very well.  If you refuse to inform me of your preferences, I'll have to go with my own plan."

 

Again, she looked at him without saying anything.

 

He sighed and continued, almost apologetically, "There's nothing for it.  I must speak to my grandmother...she is the only one with the power to reverse one of King Oberon's spells."

 

He saw her stiffen.  "Your grandmother is Titania," she realized, her voice flat.

 

Battousai gave her a thoughtful, unhappy look.  "Believe me, I see the problem.  However, unless you have a better suggestion, it must be done."

 

"You want to take me to the Seelie court."

 

He frowned and held up his wrist.  "Do you _want_ to be dragged around during a battle, then?"

 

 _'I'd almost prefer it,'_ she thought, but did not say so out loud.  She simply looked at him, her mouth silent and grim, but her eyes pleading.

 

"Tomoe-san...."

 

"Let's just get it over with."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The fae of the Seelie court were delighted to see their prince again.  "Ken-chan!" the handmaids cried, running to fling their arms around him and play with his hair and toy with the hilts of the swords at his waist.  "Come play with us, Ken-chan!"

 

"I'm here on business," he said shortly, striding right through their affectionate arms and the drifting, gauzy appendages to their clothing.

 

"Ken-chan's cheating on us!" they cried with reproachful laughter when they saw Tomoe, making her way with some difficulty in his wake.  "Ken-chan's been hiding away other girls!  So naughty!"

 

"It's not like that," he said gruffly, though the color creeping into his face only lent fuel to their teasing.  Ignoring them, he came before the throne and bowed to the queen.  "Grandmother, I greet you."

 

Titania looked down upon him, her eyes flashing.  "What's this, Kenshin?  You dare to bring an Unseelie into my halls?"  The other fae gasped, staring at Tomoe with frightened, angry eyes.

 

"She is under my charge," he said firmly, taking responsibility for any consequences.  "I have come to beg a favor of you, Grandmother."

 

A smile curled the queen's mouth.  "And what might that be?" she asked in a deceptively lazy tone; her gaze remained keen.

 

Battousai's eyes narrowed, and he held up his wrist.  "The spell can't have escaped your notice.  Please, free us."

 

Titania sighed.  "And just how did my troublesome grandson end up in such a predicament?"

 

He shrugged.  "King Oberon was upset that I killed one of his men."

 

Tomoe's eyes flicked to him, but she said nothing.

 

"You killed an Unseelie?" Titania repeated, quite interested.  "And why would my Kenshin do something like that?  I thought you were loath to take life.  Was it a matter of self-defense, perhaps?"  Her tone challenged him to lie.

 

Yet Battousai looked at her and said, after a long pause, "No."

 

"Your Majesty," Tomoe spoke up, her tone soft and coldly polite.  "I offer my condolences on your loss."  She noted the warning look Battousai gave her, but did not respond to it.

 

The queen quirked an eyebrow.  "My loss?"

 

"Yes," Tomoe continued, ignoring Battousai's intense stare.  "I would have liked to meet Junko-san, as she seems to have been a worthy person."

 

The court was silent.  Only now did Tomoe glance at Battousai:  he looked angry, and...fearful.

 

"Junko?" Titania murmured, as if thinking.  "Junko...oh!"  She laughed, a sweet, silvery peal that startled Tomoe with its loveliness.  "That handmaid of mine.  Yes.  Very irritating, that now I am one short; I'll have to pay Oberon back for that.  Of course," she laughed again, "I suppose you've already taken care of that, Kenshin.  What a good boy you are."

 

Tomoe, only half-surprised at the queen's heartlessness, looked over at Battousai.  His face was clouded by those useful bangs again, but the pained tightening of his mouth was still visible.  "I see," Tomoe murmured.

 

Battousai took in a breath, let it out, then raised his head.  "Grandmother.  The matter at hand, if you please."

 

The queen smiled.  "That pesky spell, is it?  Very well.  Come here, my love."

 

Battousai approached, but was suddenly brought up short by the stinging in his wrist.  He looked over his shoulder in surprise to see Tomoe still standing in the same place, her hands clenched tightly together.

 

Titania grinned at her in a rather predatory way.  "Don't worry, dear.  I won't bite.  If Kenshin has vouched for you, that is good enough for me."

 

Still Tomoe did not move.  Her eyes were fixed, unseeing, on the wall above Titania's head.

 

"Tomoe-san," Battousai called softly.

 

Finally, her feet began to move, one tiny step after another until she stood beside him.  On an impulse, he reached for her hand, but pulled back before grasping it.

 

Titania grinned again.  "Of course, there must be a price for this favor, Kenshin."

 

His eyes narrowed.  "Of course."  He glanced at the girl beside him, stiff with terror.  "But it is I who will pay it all."

 

The queen laughed.  "Very well, then.  What I require of you is one kiss, my bonny sweetheart.  And one on the girl's behalf as well."

 

The court burst into laughter.  Battousai, acting swiftly before she could more clearly specify her terms, leaned forward to place a dry kiss on Titania's right cheek, and another on her left.  Then he backed away and silently dared her to protest.

 

She frowned, but her people were crying out gleefully, "No foul!  No foul!  A kiss is a kiss!"

 

"Fine," she huffed.  "So you win again, Kenshin.  Give me your hand."  It was a simple matter for the Faerie Queen to cut the hairs apart, though the brief spark of released magic zapped Battousai and Tomoe a little painfully.  "There," Titania said shortly, "it's done.  And now you'll be rushing off again, since I'm of no further use to you."

 

He shook his head.  "I still have a little time.  If it will please you, I'll stay."  The handmaids burst into cheers, but Battousai was surprised when Tomoe suddenly clutched at his arm.  Looking at her, he found her eyes wide in desperation as she stared at him.  Then she dropped her head and slowly slid to her knees, gripping his sleeve harder than ever, her breath coming in gasps.

 

"Tomoe-san?" he asked in concern, reaching down to steady her.  "Tomoe-san, what is it?"

 

The only answer was Titania's tinkling laugh.  Battousai jerked his head up and stared around, for the first time taking in the elaborate decorations in the hall, the gorgeous clothes of the fae, the flowers and food and even their too-beautiful faces.  _'Glamour,'_ he realized, _'Seelie glamour, almost all of it.  It's hurting her.'_   At that thought, he straightened up and shouted at them, "Drop it!  Drop it all!"  They only burst into laughter, watching eagerly to see what the Unseelie girl would do.

 

Fury crept over Battousai.  He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, gathering his magic close around him, then casting it outwards with a wordless yell.  "Hyaaaah!"  Power blew through the hall, seeming to dissolve almost everything it touched:  the fancy trappings and decorations turned to rags and debris; the food turned to dust and other, less savory things; the fae who had been wearing nothing but dead leaves or cobwebs suddenly shrieked when their clothing was revealed for what it really was.

 

"Goodness, Kenshin!" the queen exclaimed, her attempt at an angry tone dissolving into giggles.  "Don't you think that was an overreaction?"

 

Battousai glared at her.  "I don't care."  He turned back to Tomoe and knelt down to her level.  "Tomoe-san, I'm so sorry."

 

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled.  "The binding spell is gone, at least.  You can go kill people now."

 

He stared at her.

 

She pushed away the discomfort and looked up at him.  "I'm all right.  I am no longer your concern, Battousai."  She rose to her feet, disgusted when she stumbled and had to be steadied by his hand on her arm.  It took a moment for her to gather herself enough to bow to the queen.  "Thank you, Your Majesty.  I will now take my leave."

 

"I'll escort you," Battousai offered.

 

The handmaids threw up a chorus of protest at this, and the queen frowned thunderously.  "You promised to stay, Kenshin."

 

He looked a little annoyed.  "I'll take her no farther than the edge of the gardens."

 

"We'll go with you!" the handmaids cried, and gathered around Battousai and Tomoe in a tumultuous group, dancing and singing.  Tomoe gazed at them in mild surprise.

 

"They can get silly," Battousai muttered in her ear.  "I'm sorry."

 

"No," Tomoe said softly.  "I've just...never seen anyone like them at...at home."

 

Battousai wondered if she thought that was a good or a bad thing, but he hesitated to ask.

 

They made their way slowly out of the court and through the gardens, bright with sunshine and the glittering wings of birds and butterflies.  As she had done on the way in, Tomoe could not seem to keep her eyes off them.  "It's so beautiful," she murmured.

 

He paused, then ventured to say, "There are beautiful things in the Unseelie court as well, are there not?"

 

She sighed.  "It's not the same.  Our beauty...it is meant only to lure and entrap, or it hides rottenness beneath."

 

"The same could be said for this place," he replied darkly.

 

"Not for everything, though."  Tomoe knelt, touching the tips of her fingers to a delicate pink flower petal.  "Here...some things, at least, are pure."

 

There was a pause.  Then Battousai reached down and, very gently, let a lock of her hair slip through his fingers.  "Is your beauty meant to entrap me, then?"

 

Tomoe froze.  He couldn't mean what she thought he did, could he?  Emotion suddenly flooded her heart, and she gasped at the warmth of it.

 

Battousai, mistaking her reaction, quickly withdrew.  "I'm sorry.  That was out of line."

 

Tomoe rose and, without looking at him, asked softly, "Battousai...when I return to the Unseelie court...will you...?"

 

There was a long silence between them, filled only with the singing of the handmaids as they danced out among the flowers.

 

"If Shishio has business with King Oberon," Battousai said slowly, "there is a chance I might need to come to the court again."

 

Tomoe shuddered.  "It would be wise for Shishio to see as little of us together as possible."

 

"...Tomoe-san."

 

She looked at him.

 

He smiled a little - those smiles of his were beginning to break her heart, because they never warmed the hard ice of his eyes.  Tomoe realized for the first time how her own eyes must look to others.

 

"Tomoe-san, if it will please you, I'll come to the court...without Shishio."

 

Her face was as impassive as before as she said, "Yes.  It will please me."  She hesitated.  "Except...."

 

He waited.

 

She could not bring herself to give full voice to what she wanted.  "It is awkward...to hear such an address...when I only call you 'Battousai.'"

 

He gave her a very cautious look.  "Is that so...Tomoe?"

 

She smiled, a tiny smile that took his breath away.  "Yes, that is so."

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Glamour is a kind of disguising magic.

 

There was not anything romantic going on between Kenshin and Junko, but he was upset over the queen's heartlessness.


	14. Chapter 14

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 3 - "Please don't leave me."**

Battousai and Tomoe were sitting on a hilltop, watching the sun go down.  They sat apart, and neither of them spoke, yet each felt an unfamiliar but welcome sense of peace and contentment spread over them.  They did not seem to notice the werecat creeping up on them from behind.

 

"Raagghh!"

 

Battousai grunted as the Unseelie creature leaped onto his back and hooked an arm around his neck in a chokehold.  "Yield, Battousai!"

 

He calmly flipped the werecat to the ground and planted a knee in the creature's chest to pin it there.  "Be quiet.  We are trying to watch the sunset."

 

"Let me up!" the boy howled, struggling in vain to get loose.  "You promised!"

 

Battousai sighed.  "Promised what?"

 

"You said you'd teach me Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu!"

 

"I promised no such thing."

 

The boy's eyes narrowed and he managed to roll free at last.  "You think I'm going to let you go, after you beat Raijuuta-sensei like that?  You're a master swordsman!  You have to teach me all you know!"

 

"I will not teach a child to kill," Battousai answered, settling back again comfortably.

 

The Unseelie boy dragged his heavy sword free and brandished it menacingly at Battousai.  The effect was rather ruined by the way it wobbled in his hand.  "Teach me Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, or I'll cut you!"

 

"Noisy little creature, isn't he," Battousai remarked to Tomoe.

 

She smiled a little.  "Yutarô," she pointed out, "is that any way to speak to someone of whom you're trying to ask a favor?"

 

Yutarô paused.  Then he announced firmly, "I am Unseelie.  Good manners don't become me."

 

"Good manners become _anyone_ , whether fae or human," Battousai stated.  "But even if you begged me on your knees, I would not teach you how to kill."

 

"Then teach me something else!" Yutarô cried in exasperation.  "Teach me anything!  I want to learn!  I want to be the best, better than _you_!"  Then he clapped his hand over his mouth, as if he had just ruined his chances, but Battousai only smiled.

 

"I do wish you to be strong, young one.  But it will not be through Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu."

 

Yutarô looked as if he would have liked to argue this point further, but Battousai winced as he felt a sharp sting on his neck.  He started to clap his hand to the wound, but stopped just in time to keep from crushing the little pixie that was perched on his shoulder.

 

"Fuka," he said reproachfully, "that hurt."

 

"Oh, I can _make_ you hurt," the little pixie laughed.  "That was just a little love-bite to say hello."

 

"You could have just said 'Hello,'" he pointed out.  Then the rest were upon him - little goblins and troll-children and various sprites, laughing as they pounced on his shoulders and nuzzled their faces against his, and argued over who got to sit in his lap.

 

A young lutin was now crouched on his head; Battousai pushed its tail out of his face and said apologetically to Tomoe, "At this rate, we won't even notice when the sun goes down."

 

"I don't mind," she answered, watching him with the children.

 

"Play with us, Niisan!" they begged.  "Please play with us!"

 

His face darkened.  "No.  You know I don't like your play."

 

"Aw, pleeeeaaase!" they begged.  "We won't hurt anyone this time!"

 

"Yeah, no tormenting humans, we swear!"

 

Battousai pulled the lutin off and got to his feet, sending a couple of kitsune cubs tumbling head over heels.  "I will teach you a human game, then.  It is called Fruits Basket."

 

"Fruits Basket?" they chorused back at him suspiciously.  "No way, that sounds like a Seelie game!"

 

"Bug Basket, then," he amended.  "The rules will not change.  Each of you may pick the name of an insect instead of a fruit."

 

"Spider!  I'm spider!"

 

"Roach!"

 

"Lizard!"

 

"A lizard isn't a bug, you idiot!"

 

"It is so!"

 

"Is not!"

 

"IS SO!!"

 

Battousai fought the urge to laugh as he watched them argue.  "You can be a lizard if you want."

 

"Hah!"

 

"But _I_ wanna be a lizard," the other one whined.

 

Battousai rolled his eyes.  "You," he pointed at one, "are gecko.  And you will be chameleon."

 

The boys stuck their tongues out at each other, then turned adoringly to Battousai to hear the rest of the rules.

 

When he had finished explaining, he turned to Tomoe and raised his eyebrows invitingly.  "You as well, Tomoe?"

 

The children went hushed and eager, looking to see what she would say.  Sure enough, she rose to her feet.  "I would like to play with you."

 

"No, you wouldn't!" they shrieked teasingly.  "Look at your face!  Angry girl, angry girl!"

 

She turned and glared playfully, so that they burst into laughter.  "I am furious.  I am coming to eat you up," she told them.

 

"Not in those shoes, you won't," Battousai said thoughtfully, looking at the thick _geta_ she wore.

 

Tomoe hesitated, then carefully stepped out of her shoes.  The children shouted eagerly, tugging at her skirts.  "She really is going to play with us!"

 

"Come on, Neesan!"

 

"You can be a beetle!"

 

"And Niisan is a butterfly, 'cause he's Seelie-pretty!"  Which caused them to dissolve into giggles.

 

One of them began to chant slyly, _"Butterfly, flitting free, said to Beetle, 'Look at me!'"_

 

The rest took up the nursery rhyme at once.  _"Beetle said to Butterfly, 'Won't you marry me!'"_

 

"Enough," Battousai said sternly, and they shrieked with laughter again, for they saw that his face, and Tomoe's face, were both more pink than usual.

 

"It's been months."  Surprised, everyone turned to Yutarô, who sat sulkily on the grass with his arms crossed.  "Why don't you two just admit it?  Everyone already knows."

 

Battousai frowned in confusion.  "Knows what?"

 

"Lovers!" the children cried gleefully.  "Battousai and the princess are sleeping together!"

 

Battousai stared at them in shock.

 

"I take it Seelie children don't learn of such things so young," Tomoe murmured, then looked at Yutarô.  "You should not help the rumors spread, Yutarô.  They are not true."

 

"Don't tell me you two aren't sleeping together," Yutarô said matter-of-factly.  "It's obvious."

 

"We are NOT," Battousai said firmly.

 

"Why else would a guy like you be coming here so often, then?  No one really cares, you know; it's not like liaisons with the Seelie are unheard of."

 

"I would not act with such dishonor," Battousai said stiffly.  "If that is the impression I have given, then I will stop coming."

 

The children cried out at this, and rushed to cling to him so tightly that he nearly fell over.  "Don't go, Niisan!  Don't go!"

 

"Battousai," Tomoe said, very quietly.  "Such rumors stem merely from your presence in the court for my sake.  There is nothing else you can do."  What she did not say, but what he understood anyway, was, _"Please don't leave me."_

 

Battousai stood very still for a long time, as everyone watched him anxiously.  He did not even notice them.  He was realizing that the reason he came as often as he could was to keep Tomoe company, to try to push away the sadness that cloaked her.  He realized that in coming again and again, their friendship had grown until it was too strong to break easily...and he realized that, if he kept coming, he would care for her more and more until he really did fall in love with her.

 

And just as he thought that, he realized that he already _had_ fallen in love with her.

 

He raised anguished eyes to hers, and she saw his face and read his thoughts, and drew in a painful breath.

 

"I cannot stay," he whispered.

 

The children were staring at him, their faces frightened.

 

"I didn't realize...Tomoe, I am...."  He couldn't say he was sorry.  It wasn't nearly enough.  "Shishio," he started, and trailed off again.  There were no excuses good enough.  It was true that trying to involve a woman in his life was pure folly - slave as he was, forced to kill over and over again for a cruel master.  The truth was, he should never have let himself care for Tomoe at all.  By the very nature of his position, his love was doomed to end in tragedy, and he had been a fool to toy with Tomoe's feelings like this.

 

Battousai's eyes hardened.  "I must go.  Forgive me, Tomoe-san," he said coldly, and gave her a little bow.  "I wish you success and happiness."  Then he turned and strode away, with the children wailing as they trailed hopelessly after him.

 

Yutarô's eyes were wide.  "P-Princess," he stammered, looking at her fearfully.  "I didn't mean to...I never meant...."

 

Tomoe did not speak for a long time.  Then she looked at Yutarô and said coolly, "Stop stammering, Yutarô, it is not seemly."  She stepped back into her shoes with very deliberate movements, straightened her skirt, and headed back to the palace.

 

Yutarô clenched his hands into fists.  _'What have I done?'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

A week or so later, there was a mad scramble in the Unseelie court, as the fae readied themselves for the entrance of Lord Shishio.  A hush settled over them as he entered, their eyes following him intently.  He walked confidently, his head held high as if he didn't even see the rabble around him.  He was flanked by his best men, including a slender youth with long red hair and frozen eyes.

 

"Makoto!"  King Oberon rose and swept out his arms, greeting the man warmly.  "How long as it been since you last set foot in my halls?  Come in, come in, sit here by me."  Of course this meant that the princess had to vacate her own seat, which she did silently and with no gesture of protest.  She did not look anywhere near the young assassin, and he in turn kept his gaze steadily straight ahead.

 

"What brings you to my court, Makoto?"

 

"Oh, nothing much," Shishio said lazily.  He grinned and kept his eyes on his chief assassin as he continued, "It's only a small favor I have to ask of you, Father."

 

The flicker of shock on Battousai's face was brief, but it was enough; the court had been watching him as well, and now they burst into laughter.

 

"Or maybe my little sister would be able to help me better with this particular issue," Shishio mused, indicating Tomoe.  "After all, I am dealing with matters of the heart, so perhaps a woman's touch would be more useful than even that of my honored father."  It was rather difficult to keep his amusement in check as he watched Battousai.  The young man was standing stock-still, his expression completely opaque, and yet his arms were crossed tightly over each other as if to prevent them from trembling.

 

The dark fae were practically falling over in hysterics by now, but as they looked at Battousai, savoring the joke of these revelations on him, a fearful quiet suddenly fell over them.  For the assassin, though he had not moved at all, was suddenly glowing bright with Seelie magic, which whispered around his body in hot flickers.  The sweet power of it was too much for some of the weaker fae; they fled the hall, squealing.

 

"Terrible, terrible," Oberon said, as if in deep disapproval, but his eyes sparkled with mirth.  "What lax control you have over your own men, Makoto, to let them flaunt Seelie poison in my hall."

 

Shishio frowned, as if mildly annoyed.  "Someone shut him up, will you?" he asked, waving his hand at Battousai's magic, which burned as brightly as a silent scream.

 

Tellingly, the rest of Shishio's own men quickly stepped back; it was a couple of fae from the court who jumped to obey, blades flashing down on the assassin.  In an instant their heads were rolling on the floor; Battousai was suddenly on the other side of the room, his swords drawn and bloody, his breathing harsher than it should have been for such slight effort.

 

Shishio clicked his tongue.  "Don't you think that was an overreaction, Battousai?  I'm sure there were better ways you could have vented your feelings about dear Tomoe being my half-sister."

 

The laughter started up again, but it was now muted.  The blank eyes on those detached heads were warning enough.

 

Very slowly, Battousai wiped the blades clean, and as he did so, the glow surrounding him dimmed and then vanished.  His voice was perfectly calm when he said, "I have no intention of giving my life away when enemies jump at me."

 

"Oh, really?" Shishio said lazily.  Then he was suddenly a blur, and in a fraction of a second he was standing next to Battousai, his blade held to the assassin's throat.  The young man didn't move or even look at his master, and his hands remained relaxed at his sides.  "So does this mean I am no enemy, or that you knew I was testing you?"

 

"What do you want?" Battousai murmured.

 

"I want you to die," Shishio answered conversationally.  He swept his sword up, ready to bring it slashing through Battousai's neck, but there was a sharp clang as it crashed to a halt against the assassin's blade instead.

 

At last rolling his eyes sideways to look at Shishio past their straining blades, Battousai said in a low, dangerous voice, "Did you come here solely to humiliate me, or do you have actual business in this place?"

 

Shishio smiled and let up.  Tapping his sword casually on his shoulder, he turned and strolled back to the dais, presenting his unguarded back to the assassin.

 

Battousai did not even look at him.  He did not look at Tomoe, either, whose face was carefully neutral, but whose eyes never left him the entire time.

 

"Now," Shishio said, "where were we?  Oh, yes.  A certain lady I have interest in; a queen, in fact...."

 

_To be continued...._


	15. Chapter 15

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 4 - "I can't run away anymore."**

Trapped in her own chambers, the human queen fell back against the wall in horror, her hands pressed over her mouth as she stared at the corpses of her guards littering the floor.  Their killer stood among them, gazing at her as blood dripped from the sword in his hand.  His face was terrifying, with a scarlet cross slashed on one cheek and eyes that glowed a bright, menacing yellow.

 

"Wh...Why...?" she whimpered.

 

His voice startled her - it sounded young, but unnaturally deep, and as cold and hard as steel.  "Forgive me."  He took a step toward her, and she let out a little shriek of terror.

 

"I have no...personal grudge...against you...."  The familiar words were sticking in his throat.  At the very least, she deserved some kind of explanation before she died.  "I am afraid that you angered the son of the Faerie King."

 

Her face went white as she realized what he referred to.  "I resisted the advances of a stranger, and now I am to die for it?!"

 

The possibility occurred to him, not for the first time, that Shishio might have had less actual interest in the queen than in setting him up for this moment.  He raised his sword as he approached.

 

 _'The Faerie King....'_   Then this assassin was a fae.  At once, the queen plunged her hand into a pocket of her skirt, searching for the wards she kept there.

 

He frowned, but before he could say anything, she had flung a handful of salt in his face.  He gasped in pain and shook the salt out of his eyes, as a rosy rash spread across his cheeks.  The poison had temporarily dimmed his vision, though not enough to prevent him from completing his mission.  He made a move to restrain her, then decided that she had the right to fight for her life, no matter how unsuccessfully.

 

She had run to her jewelry box, and when she saw him coming for her again, she seized a handful of the thin chains and made a brave charge, pressing the silver to his face.  It made no mark upon his flesh.

 

"Silver will not harm my kind," he told her quietly, and took her wrist in one hand so he could kill her with the other.

 

Screaming, she struggled wildly and managed to twist out of his reluctant grip.  She caught sight of the remains of her supper and lunged for it, snatching up the salt shaker and clawing unsuccessfully to get the cap off, her shaking fingers turned useless from terror.

 

He briefly closed his eyes and swallowed hard, feeling sick.  He couldn't stand this much longer.

 

A sound finally came to his attention, a wailing that had been going on for quite some time, unnoticed until now.  He opened his eyes again to see a little bed across the room, where a tiny girl was curled into a ball with her eyes tightly shut, crying over and over again for her mother.  Awakened by the noise, the girl's sobs had become increasingly high-pitched until she was practically shrieking.  "Mama!  Mama!  Mama...!"

 

The queen saw where he was looking, and her heart seemed to stop with horror.  _'Kaoru,'_ she thought wildly.  _'He means to use her as a hostage, to get me to comply--'_   Already she had flown into action.

 

As he looked at the little girl, he realized with a sinking certainty that there was no way he could kill this woman.  Whatever the consequences, he simply couldn't do it; he would sooner die himself.

 

That decision had only just crossed his mind when he gasped, and heard the horrible, wet sound of a blade passing through flesh.  He stared at the queen, who had seized his hand and thrust the sword it was holding deep into her own body.  Their eyes were locked together, horror-filled gold and anguished blue.

 

"It's done," she gasped with the last of her breath.  "So please...please don't hurt her...please, let her live...."  Blood bubbled up into her throat and she fell backwards, bearing the sword with her, for his hand was suddenly too weak to hold it.

 

He gazed down at her, watching her die, and when the light left her eyes, his legs could no longer hold him.  He collapsed to the floor, sitting there numbly as the child's cries wailed on and on in his ears.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Where could he go?  To whom could he possibly turn?  Any of Shishio's people were out of the question; his grandmother and her court would only pretend to sympathize and then lose interest.  There was only....

 

Tomoe finally became aware of a presence outside her door.  She tensed, but whoever it was did not enter, did not knock, did not call out.  She would not have been able to sense a human, any Unseelie would have barged in by now, and there was only one Seelie who could possibly have any business with her.

 

It took her two tries to speak through her suddenly dry throat.  "Enter."

 

As if it was a signal for release, the door burst open at once.  Before it had even banged back against the wall, Battousai had crossed the room, fallen at her feet, and was sobbing into her lap as if his heart had broken.  He kept seeing the queen's face, distorted by the pangs of death as she begged for the life of her child.  He kept feeling her hands gripping his, the sensation of the sword he held driving through her body against his will....

 

When he desperately pushed those fresh, blood-soaked memories away, older ones rose up like ghosts from the ashes of his childhood.  He saw a world of flames as the palace, his home, was burned during the attack.  He saw his father cut down by the enemy.  He saw his mother and three sisters rushing to protect him, each slashed to death as they screamed for mercy.  He felt the hand of their murderer in his hair, dragging him away....

 

It was a long time before Battousai was able to escape the past, and when he finally regained awareness of Tomoe's warmth, the silence of her room, he realized that the hands in his hair were now hers.  Her fingers stroked slowly, soothingly, and he knelt there gaining comfort from her touch for quite some time before he realized what he was doing.

 

"What happened?" she asked quietly when she saw that his weeping had stopped.

 

He tensed, then suddenly pushed himself to his feet and backed away.  "Tomoe, I'm sorry.  I had no right to come here.  My deepest apologies for disturbing you."  He was just turning to go when she seized his arm and slapped him across the face.

 

"Don't you dare," she hissed.  "Don't you dare come here to get what you need from me, and then abandon me again like the selfish beast you are!"  Then she burst into tears.

 

He stared at her in shock for a moment, then slowly put his arms around her.  She was right - it had not even occurred to him that, just as she had been his only solace in this dark hour, she must have seen him as the only spark of light in her otherwise hopeless world.  He held her tighter and admitted to himself that it was too late.  He couldn't leave her now, even to protect her.  "Forgive me," he whispered.  Then, because he couldn't help it, "You would be loath to let these hands touch you, if you knew what they have done."

 

"The same could be said for my own," she murmured.  "Yet you already knew that, and you hold me anyway...."  She looked up at him.  "Battousai--"

 

"Kenshin," he corrected firmly.  "Himura Kenshin.  And...."  He took a deep breath.  "There is another name.  Shinta."

 

She stared at him in open shock, nearly overwhelmed by the gift of trust he had placed in her.  Among the fae, names could be used for spells, and therefore were closely guarded; to know a person's true name....

 

"Kenshin," she whispered.

 

"I'm yours," he told her.  "I don't know how I can be with you, but I can't run away anymore."

 

Tomoe was quiet for a minute.  Then she said, "No.  I think running is an excellent idea."  She smiled at little at his confused look.  "Only this time, you will run away with _me_."

 

His eyes widened slightly when he realized what she was suggesting.  Thoughtfully, he asked, "Do you think Shishio would notice a simple man and wife, living as peasants in the human realm?"

 

"Such a plan is not without hope.  However...I must insist that this married couple be complete with a child as well."

 

He blushed a little.  "I think it's a bit early for--"

 

"Enishi," she said quietly, and his expression went serious.  "I am sorry, Kenshin, but...my father and my younger brother are all that I love in this place.  My father does well here, but Enishi...my heart aches to see him growing up among such people."

 

"We will take him with us," Battousai said gravely.  "Tomorrow night, Tomoe - I will come for you."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  In folklore, salt is a fae-bane.  I suppose Kenshin's cooks don't serve him anything containing it, though, being over half human, it wouldn't bother him as much as it would a pure-blood fae.

 

Originally, I meant for Kenshin & Kaoru to never find out the truth of her mother's death, because I knew it was going to make _The Sleeping Prince_ really long and complicated, and I was too lazy to see it through.  However, skenshingumi made an invaluable contribution to the series when she expressed dissatisfaction with this, and due to her suggestion, I found a way to have Kenshin  & Kaoru find out the truth after all.  As a result, _The Sleeping Prince_ took a darker turn and, as I knew it would, got really long and complicated.  However, I think that it is a much better story now, and Kenshin  & Kaoru's relationship is stronger than ever after what they went through.  (Besides, now we have _Immortality_ to brighten up the bittersweet ending of _The Sleeping Prince_.)


	16. Chapter 16

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 5 - "You'll soon forget her."**

"Lord Shishio, I am leaving your service."

 

Shishio silently surveyed his chief assassin, who stood in a relaxed pose, though his expression was hard and determined.  "Are you?" he finally said, very calmly.

 

"Yes.  I will not kill for you anymore."  Battousai half-turned to leave, then paused to say coldly, "Have no fear for your throne.  I do not intend to claim it, I simply wish to be left in peace.  You will not hear from me again."

 

Shishio smirked at this.  "Is that so."  Then he sighed and shrugged.  "Very well.  I won't stop you.  Enjoy your life with my sister, Battousai."

 

Battousai's hard gaze rested on him for a minute longer.  Then he closed his eyes, gave the slightest of bows, and walked away.

 

"Shishio-sama!" Houji burst out the moment the door had closed, unable to keep silent any longer.  "You're letting him go?!"

 

Shishio grinned.  "Of course.  No sense keeping him here against his will, after all."

 

"But--!"

 

"Shut up, Houji."  Shishio got to his feet, and gestured for a traveling cloak to be brought to him.  "I'm going to Faerie.  Houji, look after things here."

o.o.o.o.o

Tomoe wasn't in her room.  By the time he finally tracked her down in the royal gardens, Battousai was in too much of a hurry to even kick the carnivorous flower that tried to take a bite out of him.  "Tomoe, let's go," he said shortly, grabbing her wrist.

 

She pulled back, digging her feet in.  "Wait, Kenshin."

 

"There's no time," he said urgently.  "I just told Shishio I was leaving.  We've got to get out of here _now_."

 

"You _told_ him?" she exclaimed.  "How could you do something so foolish?"

 

He paused long enough to glare, just a little.  "I am not going to sneak away like a criminal who has something to be ashamed of."

 

"No," she said heavily.  "You've simply traded our lives for pride."

 

"For honor," he corrected, "and our lives won't be on the line if we leave _now_."

 

"Kenshin, wait."

 

He was already pulling her away.

 

"Kenshin!"  He didn't respond.  So she narrowed her eyes and commanded, "Shinta, stop."

 

He jerked to a halt as if he had crashed into a wall.  His face slowly turned to her, with a terrible expression on it.

 

"Don't look at me like that.  You weren't listening to me."

 

"Tomoe," he said, visibly trying to keep calm.  "We.  Have.  To.  Leave."

 

"Kenshin," she said, "Enishi's not here yet."

 

He said nothing.

 

By this time, she was whispering, "Kenshin...I think he went somewhere with Shishio."

 

Battousai leaned over to put his face on her shoulder.  Tomoe waited.  Finally, he raised his head and said softly, "I'll look for him...but I must get you somewhere safe first.  Do you understand?"

 

She swallowed nervously.

 

"Take this."  He pressed a charm into her hand.  "If the glamour's too much, this will dissolve whatever magic it touches."

 

"Kenshin...."

 

He kissed her cheek comfortingly.  "Trust me.  It will be all right."

o.o.o.o.o

It was not all right.  Tomoe stood in the middle of the Seelie court like a hare trapped in a nest of snakes.

 

Titania laughed, from where she sat on her throne with handmaids draped lazily around the royal dais.  "Don't be so nervous, dear.  Come, sit by me."

 

There was almost nothing Tomoe would rather have done less, but Battousai pushed her forward, trying to be gentle.  "It will be all right," he murmured again.  "Wait here, I will return as soon as I can."  When Tomoe was seated beside the queen, Battousai backed away from them, bowed, then turned and left the hall.

 

Musicians and other performers came to the center floor, taking turns at entertaining the queen.  Titania laughed and clapped her hands to hear the songs she liked, frowned thunderously when a play displeased her, or made faces of delight or disgust when dishes of beautiful food were brought up for her to sample.  Where her smiles fell, there was delight and profound relief; the merest creasing of her forehead struck terror into whatever poor soul was being tested.

 

Titania had been absently playing with a spring of hakubaikô in her hands.  At one point, in order to taste a luscious-looking cake that was offered to her, she handed the blossoming little branch over to Tomoe.  "Hold this for me a moment, will you, dear?"

 

Tomoe took it into her hands.  The queen never asked for it back, having seemed to have forgotten it, and Tomoe herself soon lost awareness that she was holding it.

 

A bard stepped up to perform a ballad.  With a mischievous spark in his eyes, he began the story of Tam Lin.  _"Oh I forbid you, maidens all, that wear gold in your hair--"_

 

"No!" the court shouted back.

 

"Yucky!"

 

"Boo!"

 

They threw pieces of food at him, and since most of them were eating dessert by that time, he grinningly caught a handful of pudding and slurped it up.  "I thank you, my kind audience, for your 'sweet' opinion of my performance!"  This made them laugh, but all the same, they were pleased when he began Thomas the Rhymer instead, which cast their queen in a better light.

 

At one point, Titania glanced over at Tomoe.  "That hakubaikô is lovely, dear.  Why don't you put it in your hair?  I'm sure Kenshin will like it."

 

Dreamily, Tomoe obeyed.

 

A little while later, Titania sighed.  "It'll be a shame to lose my dear Kenshin to this silly elopement business."

 

Tomoe blushed.  "I'm sure he'll still visit you, my lady."

 

"Hm."  Titania sounded unconvinced.  "Perhaps he will...while he's still able to, that is."

 

Tomoe looked at her with wide eyes.  "What do you mean, my lady?"

 

The queen laughed.  "My dear, do you really expect to be able to hide from Shishio for long?  He'll track you down, you know.  And Kenshin, for all his skill, won't be able to kill his old master and any minions he might have brought along, _and_ be able to keep you safe.  Either he'll die defending you, or he'll be so grief-stricken at your loss that he'll become quite boring, and I won't want him back anyway.  Either way, I'll lose him."

 

Tomoe clapped her hands to her mouth.  "Oh, that's terrible!  Please, is there anything we can do?"

 

"Do?" Titania scoffed.  "You can call off the whole business, of course."

 

Tomoe looked down at her hands unhappily.  She really, really did not want to part from the love of her life.  "Does such a place exist?" she begged.  "Where can we go where Shishio won't find us?"

 

"He'll be able to _find_ you anywhere," Titania pointed out.  "Whether you will be safe or not - that is the real question."

 

Tomoe thought a moment, and a wonderful idea came to her.  "Do you think," she asked breathlessly, "we could stay here?"

 

" _Here_?" Titania repeated, as if that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.  "Me, the Faerie Queen, allow an Unseelie wench to bed the man I've had my eye on, here in my own home?"

 

Tomoe shrank away.  "I'm sorry...I only thought...."  She looked around, at the handmaids who were suddenly sitting up to watch their exchange.  A few merely looked curious, but most of them wore oddly sorrowful expressions.  "What if I was to become a handmaid?" Tomoe suggested shyly.  "Like...like Junko-san...didn't you say you needed someone to replace her?"

 

Titania tapped one finger against her lip.  "A ridiculous idea," she repeated, though her tone belied the words.

 

"I can be a better handmaid than _them_ ," Tomoe said eagerly, gesturing to the other maids.  "The silly creatures never do a thing for you unless you make them.  But I'll serve you well, I promise."

 

The handmaids were looking more and more anxious.  One of them actually grasped Tomoe's sleeve pleadingly, but Tomoe, barely noticing her, simply shook her off.

 

Titania sniffed.  "You, serve me well?  Don't make me laugh."

 

"I'll prove it," Tomoe said defensively.  "Let me make up your hair, my lady, and if you like it, I can show you some Unseelie glamour spells you might find amusing."

 

"Hah," Titania said shortly.  "Very well, then.  I'll humor you, girl, but it's only because I'm bored."

 

"Yes, my lady," Tomoe said quickly, and fetched a comb and some hair pins before settling herself behind the queen.  Of course, in that position, she was unable to see Titania's triumphant smile.

o.o.o.o.o

 

Shishio materialized in the nearly empty throne room just as Enishi was passing through it on his way out.  "Niisan!"  Delighted, Enishi ran to greet his brother.  "I can't believe you're here!"

 

"I'd never miss an opportunity to pay my little brother a visit," Shishio grinned, ruffling the boy's hair.  "Where's Tomoe?"

 

"In the garden.  I was supposed to meet her, but some punk insulted me just before I left, so I had to re-arrange his face first...."

 

"That's my boy," Shishio chuckled, and Enishi beamed.  "Oughtn't you to hurry on to sis, then?  Don't want to keep her waiting, do we?"

 

"Aw, it's not important," Enishi said carelessly.  "She wouldn't even tell me anything, I bet she just wants to look at the moon or something.  Wanna come with us, Niisan?"

 

"Unfortunately, I've got some business to settle with Father," Shishio said smoothly.  "Do _you_ want to come with _me_?"

 

"And get to see one of your secret meetings?!" Enishi exclaimed, almost in raptures.  "Boy, do I ever!"

 

"What about Tomoe?" Shishio asked slyly.

 

"Aw, she'll be fine, I'll give her some flowers or something later to make up for it."  Enishi wrinkled his nose, having no clue why his sister liked those disgusting things so much.

 

The meeting turned out to be incredibly boring.  Oberon and Shishio lounged around, smoking and laughing and occasionally talking about plans that sounded like code to Enishi.  The boy was quite disgusted with himself to blink and realize he had been asleep.  His father and brother were getting to their feet, shaking hands and acting as if they were about to leave.

 

"Niisan!  Father!  What did I miss?!"

 

"Oh, nothing important," Oberon said carelessly.  "We were just negotiating over the payment of a new batch of admantine.  You have a nice nap, son?"

 

"I was just resting my eyes," Enishi said hotly.  "Hey, when do _I_ get an admantine sword?"

 

"When you're a man," Shishio smirked.  "At your _genpuku_ , Enishi, I'll be watching."

 

Enishi gasped, his eyes widening.  "I won't disappoint you, Niisan!" he cried enthusiastically.

 

"Mm."  Shishio's eyes fixed on something behind Enishi, and he smirked.  Then he returned his attention to the boy.  "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to be off again, kid.  Make me proud, all right?"

 

"I will, Niisan!"

 

Shishio turned and left, raising a hand in farewell without bothering to look behind him.  Oberon stretched his arms over his head and yawned, then went his own way.  Enishi, left alone in the council room, was startled when a figure stepped out of the shadows.  "You!"

 

"Enishi," Battousai said quietly.  "Tomoe was worried about you."

 

Enishi shrugged.  "I'm not a baby.  She doesn't have to be looking out for me _all the time_."  He frowned.  "Why're _you_ here, anyway?  I thought Neesan dumped you."

 

"Please come with me, Enishi.  Your sister is waiting."

 

"Come where?" Enishi asked suspiciously.

 

Battousai hesitated.  "Enishi...if there is anything you would like to bring with you, please fetch it now.  We have no time for delay."

 

"First tell me where you want me to go," Enishi said stubbornly.

 

Battousai seemed reluctant.  "I will tell you on the way."

 

Enishi planted his feet and crossed his arms.  "Tell me _now_."

 

The assassin frowned.  "Tomoe is at the Seelie court.  She wants--"

 

"WHAT?!"

 

"Enishi--"

 

"YOU TOOK MY SISTER TO THE SEELIE COURT?!"

 

"It's all right--"  Battousai could not finish, since he found himself having to defend against an enraged child.  The boy's language was rough enough to take the skin off a weaker Seelie's ears.

 

"I'll kill you!"

 

Battousai finally knocked the bokutô out of the boy's hands and grabbed his arms.  Enishi then resorted to kicking.

 

"Yukishiro Enishi!" Battousai cried in exasperation, "Will you just listen for a minute?"

 

The boy froze.  It was not a command, and even if it was, he was not bound to obey since his secret name remained safe.  However, the fact that someone outside the royal family knew their surname....

 

"Enishi, listen.  I took your sister away - she is never coming back here again.  But she is asking for you, so please come."

 

"What did you do to my sister?" Enishi asked in a low voice.

 

"Nothing," Battousai said quickly.  He could not elaborate, however, because at that moment, Shishio came back.

 

Battousai quickly stepped away and watched with guarded eyes as his old master entered the room and strolled over to the table.  "Forgot my pipe," he explained leisurely, picking up the item and tucking it into his robes.

 

"Niisan!" Enishi burst out.  "This guy...!"

 

Shishio glanced over at the assassin.  "What are you still hanging around here for, Battousai?  Had second thoughts about leaving my service?"

 

"No," Battousai said sharply.

 

"Mm.  Get out, then.  I'm sick of looking at you."

 

Battousai's eyes slid to the boy.  "Enishi...."

 

Shishio's voice was soft and deadly.  "Do not speak to my brother, or I will kill you.  Which I might do anyway, if you're not out of my sight in five seconds."

 

For a moment, the room was still.  Then Battousai bowed his head and melted back into the shadows.

 

"Niisan," Enishi said urgently, "he did something to her!  He did something to Neesan!"

 

Shishio sighed heavily.  "What an observant young man you are, Enishi.  Even so, such a thing is not fit for a child's ears."

 

"I'm not a child!" Enishi shouted.  "Don't coddle me!  Do you know?!  What'd he do to Neesan?!  Where is she?!"

 

Shishio gazed at him for a while before answering.  Every second was a torment to the boy.  "Listen, then.  I have something very unpleasant to tell you, Enishi."

 

"What?  What?!"

 

"Well.  It's about our sister.  You've seen how unhappy she is, right?"

 

"She's always a drip.  I _try_ to make her smile - what, is it my fault that all she likes is flowers or that redhead or stupid stuff like that?" he said hotly.

 

"Haha...Enishi.  What makes you think she likes Battousai?"

 

"Come on.  They can't get enough of each other.  They're together _all the freaking time_ , they're lovers."

 

"They're lovers?"

 

"Are you blind or something?"

 

"Have you ever seen them in bed, Enishi?"

 

"Heheh...no.  But Shigure said he has a plan to sneak around to--"

 

"Have you ever seen them kiss?  Or even hold hands?"

 

"........"

 

"Tomoe doesn't look exactly _happy_ when she's with him, does she."

 

"No...she never does."

 

"That's because she isn't.  It's obvious she doesn't spend time with him willingly."

 

"She...she doesn't?"

 

"Grow up, Enishi.  Tomoe is the only legitimate daughter of Oberon.  Do you think she'd be stupid or carefree enough to fall for the grandson of Titania?"

 

"But...but then why--"

 

"Enishi.  Why did Shigekura work so hard to win Tomoe's hand?"

 

"I dunno.  Thought he was showing off."

 

"You really are young, aren't you.  Figures you'd be so oblivious."

 

"No!  I'm not, I'm old enough!  It's because...it's because...."

 

"Tomoe is the princess of the Unseelie court.  In the highly unlikely event that anything should happen to me, or in the much more likely event that something should happen to you, then Tomoe's husband would be heir to the throne.  Now put two and two together, before I lose my patience."

 

"No, wait!  I--  You mean Shigekura was gonna kill me?!"

 

"Enishi, forget Shigekura, he's dead.  The problem here is Battousai of the Seelie."

 

"He...he's gonna...."

 

...........

 

"Are you finished cussing yet?"

 

"No!"

 

"*sigh*"

 

...........

 

"...and he's just - _using_ Neesan?"

 

"Enishi, do you think any man could seriously be interested in such a grim-faced, humorless woman?  She may be beautiful on the outside, but - that's it.  She is a princess; aside from that single fact, she has nothing to attract a man except her body."

 

"...N...Niisan...."

 

"Haha, why are you looking at me like that?  I said they weren't lovers.  Did I ever say he wasn't sleeping with her?"

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was no use.  Tomoe was going to have to convince the boy herself, or they would be forced to leave him behind for good.

 

Battousai burst into the Seelie court, but his urgency was forgotten as he was greeted by the sight of Titania, her flowing golden hair done up in _odango_ buns and long pigtails, holding something bright red in her hands.  The queen looked up at Battousai, smiled, and let the object vanish away to some secret place.  "So lovely to have you join us again, Kenshin."

 

Tomoe whirled at the sound of his name and joyfully ran to throw her arms around him.  "Oh, Ken-chan!" she laughed.  "It's so wonderful!  I am to serve the queen as her handmaid, and we'll be safe here forever and ever!"

 

Battousai stared at her in the utmost horror.  With shaking fingers, he reached for the sprig of hakubaikô in her hair and gently pulled it away.  His hand suddenly tightened, crushing it, but that only raised the scent even stronger.  Sick at heart, he flung it away from him.

 

For a long time, there was no sound.  Titania and the court were watching him, listening to each pained breath he drew, waiting for the moment when his shadowed eyes would gleam with fury.  Tomoe herself stood utterly still, clinging to him, face hidden as her clouded mind began to clear.  She could remember no specifics, but was fully aware that something terrible had happened in Battousai's absence.

 

"Tomoe," he finally said.  His voice was low, chilling in its grief.  "You have already...undertaken the ceremony?"

 

"Yes," she whispered.  She stood there rigidly, all her willpower focused in keeping the tears in check.  "K...Kenshin...what...?"  She couldn't ask, because she almost didn't want to know.

 

Battousai finally lifted his face, and at the sight of that mask of rage, the fae began to shriek in terror.  Most of them fled; only the most formidable warriors closed in around their queen, grim-faced as they readied to battle their own prince if need be.  Titania alone remained calm, even smiling a little curiously as she looked at her grandson.  "Aren't you pleased?  Your precious Tomoe is safe now.  I won't ever let an Unseelie lay a hand on one of my maids."

 

Tomoe thought of Junko, and knew that such a promise was worth nothing.

 

"How...could you...." Battousai whispered.  Then he flew at her, tossing her guards aside like they were rag dolls.  His hands had seized her by the throat; he nearly shook her, the fury was so strong.  "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!?!"

 

The game was over.  Her eyes blazed in outrage, and she cast him away from her with such force that when he hit the opposing wall, it cracked instantly into a web-like pattern.  "You dare to treat me so, Shinta?" she hissed.  At the sound of his secret name, though spoken so that no one else heard, he gasped; for with it came a shock of pain, burning his throat and shooting throughout his body in fierce waves.  He gagged and clawed at his own neck, unable to breathe, but there was nothing to pull away.

 

"I am queen here.  This is my realm.  You of all people should know well what happens to those who fall out of my favor," she hissed.

 

He cried out as his birthmark throbbed fiercely, then dropped to the floor, suddenly released.

 

Tomoe ran to help him up, but he pulled away from her as if he could not even bear the nearness of her presence.  Her voice was shaking as she tried to say, "Kenshin...what does it mean?  What does it mean that...that she - took my heart?"

 

His voice was hoarse as he answered, "It means we can never be together."  As soon as the words were spoken, he raised anguished eyes to hers and reached to envelop her tightly in his arms.  "Tomoe...Titania is a jealous queen.  She cannot bear the thought of rivalry, especially among her own maids.  Tomoe, you were-- _are_ loved by the same man she also desired...."  He turned furious eyes to Titania.  "Did you laugh, Your Majesty, when you saw the opportunity to trap such a woman under your power?"

 

"No," the queen replied coolly.  "That would have given it away."

 

"I don't...understand," Tomoe said softly.

 

Titania was laughing again, though fury still burned hotly in her expression.  "That's because you are stupid, little Unseelie wench.  Listen, then - what my grandson so charmingly cannot bring himself to say is that my handmaids, once they have given over their fleshly hearts and are bound to me, cannot lie with a man."  Then she giggled.  "Or, well, they _can_ , if they are willing for that bed to be their dying-place.  But don't worry, Tomoe-chan!  You may without fear take your pick from the women of my court, should you have the inclination!"  She was laughing, but she was the only one.  The soldiers were watching Kenshin warily; the handmaids who remained looked tired and depressed.

 

Tomoe felt sick.  She suddenly knew that Junko had not died from the violence of the crime against her...she had died from the enchantment laid on her by her own queen.  "You would do such a thing to me..." she whispered, unable to finish.

 

There was no mirth about Titania now.  "I hate you.  I've hated you from the moment you set your filthy sorceress eyes on my beloved, from the moment I realized you meant to ensnare him."

 

"I meant no such thing," Tomoe said tightly.  "If you think I _planned_ to fall in love--"

 

"Love!" Titania cried.  "Love!  It means nothing!  A human invention to soothe their crazed, frightened hearts!  The way of a woman with a man is to desire his body, to make use of it while her passion is hot.  You thwarted me, Kenshin - over and over you turned away from me, and my desire grew all the more; but then to fix your eyes on another woman!  An _Unseelie_!  To spread your seed, I could understand; a dalliance here and there, I could forgive.  But Kenshin!  You were going to _marry_ her!"

 

The queen was practically screaming now.  "The fae do not marry!  The fae are not fools to bind themselves so!  If you were a fickle man whom I could trust to come back to me, even then it would have been allowed; but I knew--"

 

"You knew what?"  His voice was deadly.  "You knew that if I pledged myself so, I would hold to my word?  Yes.  That is true.  However...."  He gently took his arms away from Tomoe and nudged her behind him.  The look on his face nearly sent chills down Titania's spine.  "It doesn't matter."

 

Titania sucked in a breath.

 

"My fidelity to Tomoe would have made no difference in this regard, Grandmother."  The last word he spoke with such careful emphasis that Titania cringed, knowingly exactly what he was going to say.

 

"Kenshin," she said quickly.  "Don't you understand?  Perhaps mortals have silly taboos for their own good; their world is so different, it is only to be expected.  But we of the fae, Kenshin!  We of the immortals, the Fair Race - we come not under the same authority, we have no one to answer to for our acts of 'good' or 'evil' - we cannot sin, for there is no sin for us; what we do, we do."

 

"Who are you," he said quietly, "to declare such a thing?"

 

Her temper flared again.  He closed his eyes against the heat of her reactive magic, lifting an arm to shield Tomoe from it as well.

 

"I AM THE FAERIE QUEEN, INSOLENT BOY!"

 

He said nothing, until her rage died down enough for his voice, soft as it was, to be clear.  "So?"

 

One word.  A single word, yet it threatened to shatter the very ground Titania stood on.  "I am--!" she cried out in terror.

 

Very deliberately, he bowed.  "You are my honored grandmother.  As such, the thought of relations with you has always been...sickening."

 

She would have killed him then.  She would have regretted it later, but in that moment, she very well would have killed him, if her people hadn't come running back into the hall.

 

"My Lady!"

 

"Your Majesty!"

 

The returning handmaids flung themselves at her feet and clung to her skirts.  The little skittish fae danced about as if they were mad, and the more dignified members of the court held out their hands beseechingly to the queen.

 

"We thought he was only a child, but already he has cut down four of the guards--!"

 

Titania swept into the outer courtyard, where a blood-spattered boy with silver hair stood above a handful of silent bodies.  His feet were firmly planted, his knuckles white with the force of gripping the handle of an admantine sword that was much too heavy for him.  His breath came harshly, and his eyes were wild; Unseelie magic crackled dangerously around him.

 

"Enishi!" Tomoe cried.

 

His eyes snapped to her at once.  "Neesan," he sobbed in relief.  Then he caught sight of Battousai, and his eyes went huge.  "YOU!" he screamed, and charged straight at the assassin.

 

It took two strokes to disarm him, and then Battousai, eyes glittering, held a sword pressed hard against the boy's throat, since it was the only effective way to keep him still in such a rage.

 

"Kenshin," Tomoe said in alarm, but fell silent when he raised his free hand.

 

"Have you finally come to join us?" Battousai asked coldly.  "The situation has changed...quite dramatically, but it is no fault of yours.  I will guarantee your safety here until--"

 

"GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!"

 

"Enishi!" Tomoe cried, horrified at the sight of the blood spilling down her little brother's throat from the pressure of his voice against the blade.  If Battousai fought with mythril rather than steel, the boy would be dead.

 

Startled, Battousai withdrew his sword slightly, and without hesitation, Enishi snatched the second blade from Battousai's waist and attacked.  The assassin was too surprised to do more than instinctively defend, but in the next moment, the court was upon them.  Furious, vengeful fae dragged Enishi off their prince and ripped the weapon from his hands; blows rained down as he was thrown against the wall, and blades more deadly than Battousai's were unsheathed.

 

"Enishi!" Tomoe screamed.  "Kenshin, please!"

 

Battousai plunged into their midst, trying to fight his way to the boy, but to his frustration, his legs seemed to be moving as if he was in a dream rather than in the waking world.  "Let go of him!" Battousai thundered.  "Do not lay a hand on the boy!"  They didn't seem to hear, and Battousai suddenly realized that it was an enchantment making his limbs sluggish and his voice unheard.

 

He looked over his shoulder to see Titania watching calmly, smiling a little when she caught his look, her fingers working lazily to weave the binding spell around him.  "Rrrraagghh!"  He shouted, drawing on his magic, but it could not break the power of the Faerie Queen herself.

 

Tomoe had not waited passively by.  She herself was shoving her way through the seething crowd around her brother, and she reached him only just in time.

 

"N...Neesan," he whispered.  He reached up his arms to her, heedless of the blood running down his face and smearing his shoulders.

 

"Enishi," she cried, wrapping her arms around him protectively.

 

The first of the mythril blades descended.  Enishi nearly choked on his own horror; he burst free of his sister's arms and charged wildly at the soldier who had done it, but the man simply back-handed him across the face.  The boy crashed into the wall, his head knocking against it with a sickening crack, and slumped unconscious next to his sister's fallen body.

 

"TOMOE!" Battousai screamed.  His shout broke through the madness for just a moment, and the fae turned to him in surprise.

 

"Kenshin?"

 

"Sorry...."

 

"She got in the way!"

 

"She's only an Unseelie, Ken-kun."

 

His magic was practically burning, raging so hotly that even his own people flinched away from it.  His savage cry tore the air, mingling with the shattering sound of Titania's spell as it broke.  He threw himself down beside Tomoe, his fingers shaking as he touched her.  The mythril poison was making its way swiftly through her body; she would be dead within minutes.  If only she were Seelie, or even human....

 

Battousai whirled to face the queen.  "Grandmother!  Give her my mortality!"

 

"No," Titania said flatly.

 

"Grandmother!  She's dying."

 

"Yes.  That's the point, Kenshin."

 

"Grandmother!  I beg you!"  He rose and held out his hands beseechingly.  Something glowed between them:  a ball of white light, in which swirled threads of gold.  It was the essence of his mortality, the mix of his human and Seelie blood.

 

The Faerie Queen looked into the face of her grandson and, perhaps for the first time, she saw past the handsome features to the person he was beneath.  She saw his heart...his love...his compassion.  She also saw the loneliness and betrayal and desperation.  It was so difficult to look into that face and refuse such an appeal - but she hardened her fey heart and did so.  "I care nothing for the girl's life.  Let her die.  You'll soon forget her."

 

His eyes narrowed.  Titania's blood ran cold.  In a hard voice that only the two of them could hear, he said quietly, "Elizabeth.  Do it."

 

They shared a long look.

 

"I will never forgive you," Titania told him, equally quietly.  Then she raised her arms and began the words of the spell.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  **Let me point out that I personally do not agree with Titania at _all_ , but as an author, you do not make your characters conform to your own beliefs, you let them tell their own story, and condone or disapprove of their words or actions elsewhere.** This should be obvious (for example, it's crazy to think that any author would approve of the stuff that Shishio or Enishi do), but somehow it gets more delicate depending on the subject matter.

 

By the way, Shishio is lying about some things, of course.  No one, Seelie or Unseelie, really understands Kenshin & Tomoe's relationship, or even cares; they all think what they want to think.

 

While planning this story, I was trying to figure out how things would work between Kenshin, Kaoru, & Tomoe.  Sword/Rose didn't leave me a lot of elbow room; Kenshin and Kaoru had to marry with no hindrance from Tomoe, who also had a relationship with Kenshin in the past, but K&T somehow broke up and yet are still on good terms. Complicated - but the problem was solved when I remembered something I had watched about ancient Rome, how the virgin priestesses of Vesta were buried alive if they were caught with a man; I decided to adapt that idea. Which then left me with another problem, but you'll see the solution I came up with later.

 

I chose Elizabeth for Titania's secret name because the title character of Edmund Spenser's _The Faerie Queene_ is supposed to be modeled after Queen Elizabeth I of England.


	17. Chapter 17

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 6 - "Do you know where your heart is hidden?"**

Enishi woke up tense and restless, but was soothed when he realized that he lay with his head in someone's lap, a warm hand resting on his hair.  Whatever had been wrong, it seemed to be all right now.

 

Voices echoed above him.  "...I'm afraid for him.  He can't stay here long."

 

"I would...be glad to take him back, but are you all right?"

 

"I don't care."

 

"What kind of an answer is that?!"

 

"Kenshin, of course I'm not all right, but it doesn't matter - I will recover, thanks to you.  Enishi isn't safe here."

 

"Tomoe...any deeper, and the wound would have killed you regardless.  You are...mortal now, after all."

 

"Yes.  Then it is fortunate your soldier didn't think it necessary to strike hard."

 

"He wasn't _my_ soldier."

 

"I told you, it doesn't matter."

 

How come _her_ voice came from far away, and _his_ seemed to echo all around?  Enishi frowned and opened his eyes, disoriented, wondering at the anger that was building up in him like rising sand.

 

He saw someone's knee just before his face, visible through torn and bloodied fabric.  At the sight of the blood, Enishi winced; the throbbing in his own head finally caught up to him, and he felt the aches in his body.  He'd been fighting.  Why...?

 

Tomoe.  She was here - it was her voice he heard, had known he was hearing all along.  But...it was not her who held him.

 

Enishi shot upright, then groaned and dropped his face into his hands.  "Hurts," he mumbled.

 

"You shouldn't move so quickly," the man's voice told him.  "You were injured."

 

Enishi focused bleary eyes on the speaker.  Red hair.  Huge ugly birthmark.  Hard blue eyes.  "You!" Enishi gasped.  Then, in a roar of rage, "YOU!"

 

"Stop, Enishi," his sister said quickly.  He looked around wildly for her; she lay on the bed next to them, on her front, her face turned to look at them.

 

"Neesan!"

 

She was just barely able to calm him down enough to tell him what he had to know - why she couldn't leave with him.  He wept when he learned that his sister was bound into the queen's service.  "I'll kill them!  I'll kill them all!"

 

"Enishi...perhaps the queen will permit you to remain with the Seelie." _...with me._

 

Battousai was already shaking his head, thinking of the Unseelie prince falling into Titania's power as well, but there was no need to speak.  Enishi had recoiled as if the suggestion had been to cut out his own tongue.  "Are you crazy?!  No!  NO way!  I'd rather burn that palace to the ground!  In fact, I _will_!"

 

"Yes, and then die for sure," Battousai said firmly.  "No, Enishi - once you step off our lands, you cannot return.  You would not survive such a thing."

 

Enishi whipped towards him, remembering again why he had come in the first place.  He cried out and would have flown at Battousai's throat, had Tomoe not quickly cast a sleeping spell over him.

 

"It seems a little rough," Battousai said unhappily as the unconscious boy fell back into his lap.

 

"There's no choice," Tomoe said grimly.  "He is so upset, there is no reasoning with him.  I am no longer in a position to help him; only my father now has a hope of doing so...if he cares to."  She lifted her eyes once again to Battousai's.  "Take care of him," she said softly.

 

"He will come to no harm in my charge."  Battousai rose, carrying the boy on his back.  He stood looking down at her for a long time.  "I will not leave you, Tomoe," he suddenly said, his voice firm.

 

She looked at him without speaking, for she did not know how to voice the apprehension in her heart.  Finally, she reached up to him, and he leaned down to kiss her.  She allowed his lips to touch hers, but then she pulled away, just a little.  "I fear for you," she whispered.

 

"I love you," he responded.  His eyes pleaded with hers, but she closed them.  He finally stepped back, watching her, then sighed and turned to leave.  It was years before Tomoe saw her younger brother again.

 

The next time Battousai was able to steal away from his master, he found himself obliged to fight his way through the Seelie guards and pass by the terrified expressions of the court women.

 

"Kenshin," Titania said icily when he finally reached the throne room.  "You dare to do battle against the Faerie Queen?"

 

"Who said anything about that?" he said indignantly.  "Can't a man visit his own home without having to break down the doors?"

 

There was a moment of confusion, as the frightened fae eyed him and whispered to each other behind their hands.

 

"As if you expect me to believe you are here amicably," Titania finally said.  "What do you want, Kenshin?  Revenge?  Apologies?  You will find none here."  As she spoke, she studied him surreptitiously, but to her puzzlement, saw no sign of the spell she had sent to him the night before, except perhaps a heaviness around the eyes.

 

"Neither of those are sought or expected," he answered.  "I simply seek an audience with your newest handmaid."  His tone made it clear that, despite this phrasing, it was certainly no mere request.

 

"Denied," Titania said anyway.  "Go away, Kenshin."

 

Battousai paused.  Then he bowed.  "All right."  When he left, the fae seemed to breathe a sigh of relief - until they realized that Tomoe was gone as well.

 

Titania stopped those who would have flown frantically after them.  "No.  No warriors, no assassins - you, and you."  She pointed to two of the hovering fairies.  "Spy on them, and report to me.  We must be prepared for whatever he is planning."

 

Unfortunately for the little fairies, Battousai was apparently planning nothing.  He gave Tomoe some flowers, and they talked for a time about many things - the fairies recalled stuff about sunsets and kenjutsu practice and Titania's last party and something about a guy named Kamatari not being a shape-shifter after all.

 

"And then what?"  Titania demanded.  "What then?"

 

"Nothing!  He hugged her and went away."

 

Tomoe got into trouble for 'fraternizing with the enemy,' but she said nothing of it to Battousai at his next visit.  Titania, however, had plenty to say.

 

"How dare you keep coming here?!  You are no longer welcome!"

 

"As I recall, Your Majesty," he said with cold politeness, "it is not I who made myself unwelcome."  His eyes flashed as he looked at her.  "You care nothing for Tomoe.  You've won.  _You've won._   Why begrudge me what little I have left?"

 

Titania stared at him, not knowing quite what to make of this.  "Kenshin," she finally said, "have you been sleeping well?"

 

"No," he said shortly, "not at all."

 

Her fingers tightened on the arms of her throne.  So the spells _were_ working.  Why wasn't he reacting accordingly?  "Poor boy.  Perhaps," she said testingly, "it's something you're eating, or too many troubles on the mind--"

 

"I am not ignorant of fey torments," he said wearily.  "No need to dance around it, Grandmother.  If you wish to withdraw your spells, I would be grateful; if not, your anger will run its course in time.  Either way, they will not stop me from seeing Tomoe, if that is your intention."

 

Titania gaped at him.  So he knew.  She would have expected that, only, how _could_ he know, and yet show no sign of resentment?  "Fine."  Titania raised her head imperiously.  "You may visit the girl if you wish; she is lost to you.  But I will not allow you to speak to her out of my presence."

 

"Tiresome.  But as you will."  The acquiescence surprised her.  His eyes were dull, and even darker than before from lack of sleep, though because of the spell that had saved Tomoe, he still seemed more beautiful than ever.

 

There was a long, awkward pause.  Then Tomoe silently rose and glided out of the room; Battousai drifted after her like her shadow.  Titania, refusing to follow after them like a dog, simply translocated, so that she was waiting for them in the gardens.  Neither of them looked at her as they settled down together on the grass.

 

"I brought you something."  His voice was spiritless, but a tenderness had come into it as he opened a little basket of human food.

 

Tomoe took the _onigiri_ he handed her and bit into it curiously.  "It's good," she said.  It was not often that she tasted unglamoured food.  For a few minutes, they ate in silence.

 

Titania watched them incredulously.  Were their conversations always this boring?  Or were they just being careful in her presence?  She noticed that Battousai had stopped chewing, and that his back had gone rigid.  Tomoe eyed him knowingly, but said nothing.  Finally, Battousai let out a deep sigh and turned around.  "Would you like one?" he offered tonelessly, holding out a rice ball to the queen.

 

She reached out with her magic, and sensed no poison, no spell.  _Apparently_ just plain mortal food.  Even so, there was no telling, after what she had done to him; it would not be safe to accept...and yet, she would have died rather than seem as if she was afraid.  "Why would I have interest in such stuff?" she scoffed, snatching the thing out of his hand.  "Disgusting," she commented as she bit into it.

 

It made her uneasy that Battousai was watching her like that.  His grave look finally softened with a ghostly little smile.  "Is it?  That would explain why you ate the whole thing."  He turned back to Tomoe.

 

Titania stared at him, hard-pressed to keep her jaw from dropping.  What was...what was he _doing_?  Why was he trying to act like he wanted things to go back to the way they were before?  Was he just lulling her before he took vengeance?

 

"Have you been all right, Tomoe?"

 

"I have been well."

 

It was a lie, Titania knew.  Perhaps the first lie Tomoe had ever been able to tell in her life, but with the lack of expression in her face, it seemed to come to her naturally.

 

"Mm.  Good."

 

"You don't look very happy to hear that."

 

"...Because I don't believe you."

 

So he knew it was a lie.  Titania looked at them looking at each other.

 

"I am well," Tomoe said softly.  "Please."  When Battousai showed no sign of accepting this, she raised her hand and gently touched the little red marks on his neck, as if left behind by tiny, cruelly pinching fingers.  She knew there must be many more over the rest of his body.  "You are well, also, are you not?" she pointed out.

 

"Yes," he said softly.

 

"Stop this!" Titania finally exploded.  They looked over at her as if they had been expecting it, as if she was a child throwing a tantrum and they were prepared to wait it out.  It enraged her all the more.  "You make me sick!  I've put both of you through hell these past few nights, and here you are, blatantly pretending like everything's FINE!"

 

They took their time answering.  It was horrible to watch, as if each of them knew the thoughts of the other, like they were still attuned to each other's thinking.  "Would you rather we sulked?" Tomoe said lightly.  "Plotted revenge, went out to vent our feelings with slaughter?"

 

"At least it would be _normal_!"

 

"But useless," Battousai pointed out.

 

Titania wanted to strangle them.  "How can you _be_ like this?  How can you act like nothing happened, that you're not angry, that you're simply a little depressed?  You're--!"  _You're scaring me._

 

"You think we are not angry?"  A spark had finally lit in Battousai's eyes, and Titania's heart rose within her.  Perhaps he would lose control now, would attack her, so that she could kill him and end the matter.  But he did not move - he simply sat there, next to Tomoe, their hands lying side-by-side in the grass, almost touching.

 

"We are very angry, Your Majesty," Tomoe said quietly.  "You have struck us with a wound too deep for words."

 

They fell silent.

 

"So...what?" Titania said bitterly.  "A wound too deep for words...you speak it then with flowers?  With rice balls?  Faugh!"

 

Battousai picked a blade of grass, twirled it idly in his fingers.  "I see now.  You are...."  It would not be wise to recognize that she was afraid.  "You think I come here to seek revenge."  He shook his head.  "Rest your heart on that matter, Grandmother."

 

"Oh."  Her voice was calm again now, mocking.  "So you're perfectly content to just make these little visits, and let me go, and pretend like it never happened."

 

"It happened," Battousai said, his own voice now bitter.  "It most certainly happened."

 

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" Tomoe asked knowingly.  "Are you _hoping_ that Kenshin will raise arms against you, so you can get rid of him?"  She stopped herself just in time from adding, _'So you can wipe out your failure and pretend it never existed?'_

 

"So what if I am?" Titania pouted.  "He's of no use to me anymore, obviously."  Even as she spoke, she looked at him hopefully for a sign that this was false, that he might come to her now that he had no lover - but the look on his face was absolute.

 

"That is not a very encouraging thing to hear," was all he said.  "How long am I to be looking over my shoulder in your court, Grandmother?"

 

"As long as I have to look over mine," she answered at once.

 

He gave her a pitying look.  "Grandmother.  You need fear no vengeance from me."

 

"Of course," she said sarcastically.

 

He shook his head.  "Not only would it be folly to try to harm a fae such as you, Grandmother, but...even if you were dead, Tomoe would still be lost to me.  I will not let rage grow like a canker in my heart...look what it has done to Enishi."  Battousai and Tomoe shared an understanding look, but Titania's mind was racing as she caught onto something else.

 

"I see.  Haha.  Oh, I see it now.  You're a fool, Kenshin."

 

He shook his head.

 

"No, really!" Titania laughed.  "You always were a strange one - but clever, I see it now.  Revenge would be profitless for you; your goal is something else - you think you can break the spell over her!"

 

The two of them regarded her, saying nothing.

 

Titania scoffed.  "You'll never find her heart.  You never will, do you hear me?  None of my maids has ever found her heart; what I have hidden, it is impossible to find.  Don't hold out vain hope, Kenshin."  Still they were silent.  "Well?!  What do you have to say to that?!"

 

"Nothing," he answered truthfully.  He did not agree with her.  He refused to argue with her.

 

"Fool," Titania spat.  She rose to her feet.  "Fine.  Come _talk_ to Tomoe all you want, I don't care.  No more night-torments, no more punishments.  Continue dreaming your silly hopes, it makes no difference to me."  She took a few steps, then paused.  "Kenshin," she said softly.  She faced away from them, so they could not see the brightness of her eyes.  "I have...never known anyone like you."  She vanished before she could listen for a response.

 

o.o.o.o.o

Not long after that, during the court's next banquet, a merry elf whom no one recognized charmed the whole court and captured the queen's fancy.  It was not until he was actually perched on the arm of Titania's throne, kissing her, that at last she sensed the strength and nature of his magic.  "You!" she shrieked in surprised disgust.

 

Oberon grinned, allowing his disguise to melt away.  "It's been a while, eh, Ti?"  She tried to rise, but he slipped down into her throne and maneuvered her into his lap.  When she saw that struggling would only lead to an undignified display, she seized his head and kissed him fiercely; he returned the kiss with equal fervor, and when they parted, both were smiling through bloodied lips.

 

"Why are you here, kitten?" she purred, her eyes smoky with fury.

 

"I'd like to have a little talk with my own daughter, _if_ you don't mind," he returned easily.  Only then did his eyes turn to Tomoe, who was sitting quietly among her fellow handmaids.

 

Oberon released the queen, who preened herself like a disgruntled bird, but his eyes were only for his daughter, whom he approached with greater solemnity than usual.  "Tomoe."

 

She bowed her head in greeting.  "Father."

 

He took her shoulder with one hand and reached to tilt up her face with the other.  He studied her for a long time.  "Tomoe...are you happy here?"

 

"I am no less happy here than I was among the Unseelie, Father," she replied tranquilly.

 

There was a pause.  Then he suddenly laughed and wrapped her in a bear hug, though there were tears in his eyes.  "Such a gloomy, beautiful woman, who so loves the light!  Had I not watched you enter this world with my own eyes, I would think you were no kin of mine!  Oh, Tomoe...."

 

"I'll be all right," she whispered into his shoulder.

 

"What about this red-haired prince of yours?" he asked idly, though his eyes burned as he held her.  "He still around?"

 

"He looks after me in this place," she told him, pulling back so that she could look into his eyes.  "Father - I trust him."

 

He expelled an irritated breath.  "Fine.  Then I suppose I'll let him live, though I'd like to believe you're lying."

 

"Have I ever twisted the truth?" she said quietly, and he grinned.

 

"No.  You never were fit to be Unseelie...perhaps that's why I love you so."  He placed a kiss on her forehead, the last one she was ever to receive from him.  Then, with a merry wave at the queen, he strode out of the hall and vanished.

 

The years were slow and lonely as they passed.  Tomoe refused to wear the hakubaikô blossoms in her hair, though the other handmaids insisted that it was more "fun" that way - the flowery scents dulled the mind, sent the memories far away, covered over the pain and grief with laughter and light-heartedness.

 

Tomoe, however, preferred to live with a clear mind than to escape into illusion.  Perhaps it was her Unseelie blood that made such a life bearable, or perhaps, as Battousai told her wryly, "It's simply because you are...you."  Whatever the reason, she consented only to wear a ring as a token of her bond to the Faerie Queen.  Though its scent marked her as a handmaid, it left her thoughts free.  Those thoughts, as time passed, were not all dark ones, either.  As she had previously observed, there was much beauty in the Seelie lands.

 

Battousai tried to stay with her - any spare time he had was spent in the Seelie court, sparring with the queen and playing with the handmaids as usual, his presence a comfort to Tomoe despite the enchantment that separated them.  He had sworn to find her heart and release her from her contract, but the Faerie Queen had been playing her games for hundreds of years.

 

"I finally dared to do it."

 

Tomoe's eyes widened.  "You...used her secret name?"  She instantly crushed the hope that had risen in her heart, especially when she saw him shake his head.

 

"She only laughed."

 

Tomoe was quiet.  "I see."

 

He frowned, his eyes far away.  "She said...that it no longer existed in this world or any other."

 

Tomoe shook her head.  "If that was true, I would be dead."

 

"That is what I told her - she only laughed again, and she said...."  His eyes were anguished.  "She said that only I would be able to release your heart, Tomoe.  It has passed beyond her reach.  What could she mean?"

 

She placed a gentle hand over his lips.  "Hush.  She is telling the truth, but she is telling it only to torment you."

 

"Why?" he said wildly.  "Do you know?  Do you know where your heart is hidden?"

 

Tomoe shook her head.  "I know _her_.  So do you, if you stopped to think.  It's all a game to her, a riddle.  And if that is true, then...Kenshin, she couldn't stand it if she lost, but...she loves you still.  After everything, no matter how she may deny it.  She would also be disappointed if you lose."  Tomoe shook her head again.  "She will never be happy."

 

His face grew determined.  "But _you_ can be.  I won't give up."

 

Tomoe knew from the beginning that he had no chance of finding what he sought, and it hurt her to see the hope dimming in his eyes with each passing month.  "Battousai," she finally told him, "enough.  Let it be."

 

"No," he had said angrily.  "I will free you, Tomoe.  I prom--"

 

She laid her hand over his mouth.  "No promises," she said softly.  "Do not swear an oath you will not be able to keep."

 

"I can't stand to see you like this!  You might as well be back in your father's court - you are as bound as ever, there is sorrow in your eyes....  Having to watch you endure this, when I meant so much more for you--"  He stopped speaking when she rested her head against his shoulder.

 

"Please do not desire what you cannot have," she murmured.  "It is true that my future with you is lost.  Yet I am not...entirely as I was."  She looked up and smiled.  "You brought me into a new world, Kenshin.  At last there is light in my life...it may not be as bright as the sun, but I am content with the moon."

 

He gave her that stubborn look of his, and she was suddenly afraid.

 

"Kenshin...I don't think - you should come here so often."

 

"What?" he said, his voice low and dangerous.

 

It was not her way to smile, but her gaze was steady as she looked at him.  "Kenshin, your hardships have been different from mine...you have dealt with them differently.  Please, believe me when I say that I am all right.  It hurts to watch you...you pace your cage like a lion, Kenshin.  Your spirit is strong and bright, but you are as bound as I...please, don't take on even more burdens for my sake."

 

"You are asking me," he said tightly, "to let you go."

 

She paused.  Then she said quietly, "As your lover...yes.  That path is lost to us, Kenshin."

 

"Do you really think," he said bitterly, "we can go back to being simply friends, Tomoe?  After all this?"

 

She sighed.  "Can't we at least try?"

 

"I love you," he said softly.

 

"As do I," she returned sadly.  "So please...go."

 

They stood there looking at each other for a very long time.  Then he bowed his head, and he turned, and he walked slowly away.

 

As he crossed back to the mortal world, Tomoe drew in a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh.  She touched her face, where a single tear had fallen down her cheek.  Then she returned to her queen, breathing in the scent of hakubaikô.

 

_To be concluded...._

 

Author's Notes:  I got the term "translocate" from Diana Wynne Jones.


	18. Chapter 18

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Epilogue**

 

Some time later, the Seelie court was shaken by a thump - and then another, and yet another.  "Someone find out what that is and stop it," the queen ordered in annoyance.  When the fae exchanged lazy looks, Tomoe sighed and got to her feet.

 

When she crossed over to the human realm, she found a little girl crouching in the moonlight, crying as she beat at the ground.  Her fist landed, over and over, in the center of a ring of mushrooms.

 

"What are you doing?" Tomoe asked sharply.

 

The sobbing girl turned her face up to the enchantress.  "I want to go to the pretty place!" she wailed.

 

Tomoe paused.  "You want...to go to Faerie?" she said cautiously.

 

"The mushrooms won't work!" the girl cried.

 

Tomoe carefully lowered herself to sit on the ground next to the girl.  "Faerie is not a safe place for mortals, especially children."  It wasn't a very safe place for fae, either, but there was no point in voicing that.

 

The girl put her hands over her face and wept into them.

 

Tomoe sighed.  "Where are your parents, little one?"

 

The girl sniffled.  "Mama's dead," she said heavily.  "And Papa's asleep."  She suddenly removed her hands from her face and glared at Tomoe.  "Don't you wake him up!  Or he'll make me go back to bed."

 

"He would be right to do so," Tomoe told her.  "You belong in bed, at this hour of the night."

 

"Meanie!" the child shouted, then burst into renewed tears.

 

Tomoe's mouth tightened.  She was so bad at this kind of thing....  "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she finally asked, trying to be sympathetic.

 

"Nothing," the girl said at once.  But her sobs had quieted, and she sat there drawing in deep, moist breaths for awhile.  "My nose is running," she said dolefully.

 

"Mm," Tomoe said uncomfortably.  The graceful fae were not in the practice of carrying around pocket handkerchiefs.  A little self-conscious, she took the end of one of her long sleeves and carefully wiped the little girl's upper lip.

 

The girl sniffed several times, looking happier.  Then she looked up into Tomoe's face.  "Are you betrothed, Neechan?" she asked.

 

Tomoe was rather taken aback.  "Well, no.  I'm not."  She thought of Kenshin, and for just a moment, she was afraid she might cry; then the moment passed.

 

"Oh," the girl said, disappointed.  She scooted closer, so that their hips were touching, and she pulled her knees up to her chin.  "Papa might betroth me to someone soon," she mumbled.

 

Tomoe looked at her sadly.

 

The girl eyed her when there was no response.  "That's bad, right?"

 

"Well...."  Tomoe thought for a minute.  "That depends very much on the person you are betrothed to."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I mean, if he is a good man, then it's not a bad thing to be betrothed."

 

"Oh," the girl said again, though more relieved-sounding this time.  "What about Prince Phillip?  Is he a good person to be betrothed to?"

 

"...I'm afraid I am not familiar with Prince Phillip."

 

The girl looked annoyed.  "He's _important_ ," she insisted.  " _Everyone_ knows him.  His papa is fat and nice, but kind of loud, and he says if Prince Phillip can't marry me, then there's another girl called Ororo or something he can marry instead."

 

"I see."

 

"Neechan?"

 

"Hm?"

 

"What if I'm betrothed to a bad man?"

 

Tomoe's breath caught in her throat.  She honestly did not know what to say.  "Little one...you are much too young to be worrying about such things."

 

The girl jumped to her feet, frowning.  "No, I'm not!  I'm a princess!  I have to make sure my people are taken care of!  Papa says that Prince Phillip's papa is rich.  If I marry Prince Phillip, then we'll be rich, too, and there won't be dirty people in the streets, pulling on my skirts and asking me for money when I walk by.  I...I give them money, but they're still dirty and hungry, and I don't know what to do to make them happy!"  The girl's eyes were filling with tears again.

 

Tomoe stared at her.  The child was so small, yet already she knew her place in the world, and her responsibilities.

 

"I just wish--" the girl said slowly, then suddenly gave Tomoe a very stern look.  "Cross your heart," she ordered.

 

"Pardon me?"

 

"Cross your heart," the girl insisted, picking up Tomoe's hand.  She pushed down all the fingers except one and moved it in an X motion over Tomoe's chest.  "You have to _promise_ not to tell, okay?"

 

"All right," Tomoe agreed, somewhat bewildered.

 

"Do you want," the girl whispered conspiratorially, "to know who I really want to marry?"

 

"Who?" Tomoe asked dutifully.

 

"I want to marry a nice person with red hair, and a bloody face."

 

Tomoe was startled, so that it took her a moment to answer.  "Why a bloody face?"

 

"Because he's nice," the girl asserted.  "And it's not real blood, anyway."

 

Tomoe thought about this for a long time.  When she raised her head, she discovered that the girl had been chattering on while she wasn't paying attention.

 

"...and I named the pony Souji, after Sôjirô because it's got pretty eyes like him, but Kasshin said that wasn't fair to Sôjirô, so I had to pick a different name and I called it Ichigo because I love strawberries--"

 

"Have you ever met him?" Tomoe managed to cut in.

 

The girl was confused.  "Met who?"

 

"The one you want to marry.  With red hair and a birthmark on his cheek."

 

The girl shrugged.  "No.  Kasshin says he's just my imaginary friend.  But the red hair boy is not my imaginary friend, my imaginary friend is Yotsuba, and she is my best friend and we play all the time--"

 

"Little one, what is your name?"

 

The girl blinked up at her.  "I am Princess Kamiya Kaoru," she said importantly.  "How do you do?"

 

"Hm?  Oh.  Very well, thank you."  Tomoe smiled.  "You are a very sweet girl, Kaoru-chan.  I think I have an idea...."

 

"What is it?" little Kaoru asked interestedly.

 

"It's a secret for now.  But, Kaoru-chan," Tomoe said quickly, before the girl could protest, "you really should be in bed.  Would you like me to tuck you in and tell you a story so you can fall asleep?"

 

"Yes!" Kaoru said eagerly.  "Yes, please, Neechan!"

 

Tomoe smiled.  "Very well.  Come along."  She got to her feet, reached down to take the little girl's hand, and the two of them walked back to the castle.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  **When I use the term "heart" in relation to Tomoe, it's often going to be figurative, not literal.**   After all, you don't _literally_ feel love in your heart, that is simply an expression.

 

Prince Phillip is another reference to the Disney movie.  (If you haven't guessed, "Ororo" is Kaoru's mispronunciation of "Aurora."  I got the idea from the X-Men movie novelization, but I also like it because that's the sound Kenshin makes.)  Yotsuba is the title character from the manga series _Yotsuba &!_.


	19. Chapter 19

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**_Part 4: The Sleeping Prince_ **

 

_This fic is dedicated to skenshingumi, whose suggestions drastically helped shape it from what it would have been to what it is now._

 

Summary:  Loosely based on "Sleeping Beauty." Kenshin & Kaoru now reign as king and queen - when their first child is born, little Prince Kenji is placed under a terrible spell by the enchantress Tomoe, but she is not the real culprit.  Kenshin must travel to Faerie to rescue her and his son, but Kaoru is not about to be left behind.

 

**Prologue**

 

A/N:  Neesan is short for Oneesan, which means "older sister."

 

o.o.o

 

The country had enjoyed several years of gentle reign under the hand of its rightful king, returned to the throne at last; yet the shadow of the land's long oppression still lingered.  As if to combat the darkness, any reason to celebrate was indulged in with more festivity than usual, but the people truly outdid themselves on this particular occasion.  King Kenshin's bride had given birth to their firstborn, a son, the new heir to the Himura throne.

 

The people danced in the streets, music resounded from one corner of the city to the other, ale flowed like rivers, and complete strangers flung their arms around each other as if they were long-lost loved ones.  On the morning of the little prince's christening, he had been presented in public to his adoring people, whose deafening roars of goodwill drowned out his infant wails.

 

"Kenji, calm down!" his mother had said in exasperation, jiggling him up and down in an attempt to quiet him.  "They're _happy_ to see you, silly."

 

"He does not hear the joy in their cries," the child's father murmured, affectionately brushing a finger across the baby's cheek.  Prince Kenji angrily grabbed and bit it with all the strength of his newborn gums.  "Ahaha...energetic, isn't he," the king remarked, to the amusement of his wife.

 

That had been hours ago, however.  The child now lay asleep in the throne room for a more private viewing.  Lords and ladies of the court stepped up to the cradle, the women cooing in delight, the men narrowing their eyes to study the small prince who would one day become their master.

 

"Guess he takes after you, Kenshin," Sanosuke observed as he peered into the cradle.  Though continuing his duties as Kaoru's royal guard in this country, he had never been able to bring himself to address the king by any proper title.  "He's even got a cross and everything."

 

"Not as big, though," Megumi noted with interest.  "And it's only dark when he cries."

 

"It fades down through the generations as the enchantment loses power," Kenshin explained.

 

"Must be inconvenient," Yahiko commented, "having some mark on your face that shows your feelings."  Kaoru laughed and playfully hugged her husband's arm; he smiled back and covered her clasped hands with one of his own, the cross on his cheek paler than ever.

 

There was no clap of thunder, no violent wind.  The people on the dais were only alerted by the gasps of those farther down the hall.  Everyone turned to see that a newcomer had appeared in the center of the throne room - a beautiful woman, unmistakable as the enchantress Tomoe.

 

Kenshin smiled to see her.  "This one was wondering when you would arrive, Tomoe."

 

She smiled back, though the fey chill did not leave her eyes.  "As you guessed, I have come to see the new Himura prince."  Lords and ladies rather hastily made way for her.  Only Kenshin and his immediate companions seemed unperturbed as Tomoe made her approach.

 

"The old traditions have not been forgotten," Kenshin told her quietly.  "Tomoe of Faerie has been named the chief godmother of this child."

 

Her smile was sad as she looked at him.  "Then you have done your duty."

 

The enchantress placed her hands on the edge of the cradle and leaned forward to look into it, her long black hair pooling on the silk blankets.  As if he sensed her presence, Kenji's little eyes cracked open, staring up at her in silent fascination.  Tomoe smiled and spread her hand over the baby, as sparkles of magic wafted gently down to him.  "I now bestow a fey gift upon this child:  a skill of swordsmanship to surpass even his father's.  He shall but hear of the ways of the sword and be able to reproduce them."

 

There was a scattering of applause from the court, and Kenshin stumbled a little as Yahiko elbowed him.  "As _if_ anyone could be better than you, right?"

 

"Well, this one knows of at least one person who already has the potential for such a thing, that he does," Kenshin returned, with a wink that made Yahiko's face redden.

 

 _'He can't...he can't mean_ me _, can he?'_

 

"Thank you, Tomoe-san," Kaoru was saying, smiling as she looked at the other woman.  Tomoe's gaze was so forbidding that Kaoru might have quailed under it if she had not known her as well.

 

"Please don't thank me, Kaoru-san," Tomoe murmured, and there was a note to her voice that seemed too heavy for mere modesty.  She turned and made her way down to the center of the room, then stopped and faced the dais again.  "Kenshin," she said solemnly.  "I loved you once, as I know you loved me.  That is why I do not expect your forgiveness for this."

 

Before either the king or the queen could react to this, the enchantress suddenly raised her arms.  Her long hair and sleeves began to rise from the force of her magic, and her next pronouncement was in a loud and terrible voice.  "A fearsome swordsman this boy would be, but never will he live to see it.  For when he first draws a sword, he shall cut his hand upon the blade, and from this wound will die."

 

A cold wind shot through the hall; the candles and torches flickered wildly, and many of them were extinguished, plunging the hall into shadow.  People were crying out in panic, and the stricken queen scooped her wailing child out of the cradle and held him tightly in her arms.  Her guards had gathered close around her, weapons brandished; the king, paralyzed by betrayal, had only just begun to step forward.

 

At that moment, a black portal opened up behind the enchantress, as if it would swallow her.  Instead, however, a man stepped out.  His face was young but his hair was wild and white, marking him as a fae.  He grinned as his arms encircled Tomoe, who stood with her face stiff and expressionless, her hands clasped together.

 

"You did well, Neesan," he murmured in her ear.  Though his words addressed her, his eyes were fixed on Kenshin, who stared at the two of them with horror and fury drowning his heart.

 

"Enishi!"  His hand leapt to his sword, but it was too late.  The white-haired fae grinned and drew the enchantress back into Faerie with him, and the portal vanished in a gust of air.  The last of the lights flickered out, leaving the horrified court in total darkness.

 

_To be continued...._


	20. Chapter 20

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 1 - In which Kenji annoys Hiko to death.**

 

_"And all to kill the bonny babe_

_That we got us between?"_

from "The Ballad of Tam Lin"

 

o.o.o

 

"There is no need to explain why you have been called here.  This one has instructions for all four of you."

 

The king and queen were alone with their child in the throne room, save for the court physician and the three bodyguards who stood solemnly before them.

 

The woman who had found medical work more meaningful than the pampered life of a court lady now spoke up.  "Ken-Ô, if you mean to enlist my help in breaking the curse on the prince, I'm afraid I cannot help you.  My realm is physical medicine, not magic."

 

Kenshin smiled grimly.  "That is understood, Megumi-dono.  This one has in mind a different sort of task, that he does."

 

"And don't tell me we're supposed to track down some evil fairies and beat the heck out of them," Sanosuke grumbled.  "'Cause that ain't my thing.  Magic gives me the spooks."

 

"Would you just shut up and listen?" Kaoru snapped.  "Kenshin knows more about Faerie than a bird-head like you, quit interrupting so he can _tell_ you the plan!"

 

"Oh, absolutely, Your Worship!  If you think for one second--"

 

"Sano."  Kenshin's voice was sharp, and filled with such command that Sanosuke fell silent at once; he wasn't used to hearing his sovereign sound like this.  Kaoru also looked up at her husband in surprise - ever since the visit of the enchantress, his face had hardened and his voice had gone unnaturally deep.  She finally recognized it as the way he had sounded years ago, when he still went by the name Battousai.

 

Kaoru was just opening her mouth to apologize when he said quietly, "Kaoru-dono is upset, for reasons this one should hope you understand, Sano.  Please grant her your patience."

 

Sanosuke's face reddened and he looked away, cursing under his breath.

 

"Kenshin," Kaoru said softly, pulling at his sleeve.  "Kenshin, I'm sorry.  Please don't...look like that."

 

He turned his head to look into her anxious face, and after a moment, his expression relaxed a little.  He gave her a brief, comforting little kiss on the temple, then turned back to the others.  "Although it was the enchantress who placed such a spell over our son, this one has reason to believe it was not of her own will.  The man who pulled her back into Faerie is known to this one, that he is.  His name is Enishi - mark it well, Sôjirô."

 

The young man blinked in surprise, but waited quietly for the king to continue.

 

"It is possible that this man or others under his orders may return here to harm the prince.  Therefore he must be taken away from the castle, to a secret place, where he will be in the care of people who have earned our trust."

 

" _Us_?" Yahiko exclaimed, disbelief echoing in his voice.

 

A faint smile briefly touched Kenshin's lips.  "Who else can we trust more?"

 

"No--  I mean, of course, but--  You want us to raise a _kid_?"

 

"I'm sure it's not that hard," Sôjirô assured him.

 

"What are you talking about?  We'd need to feed him and wash him and, geez, change his diapers and stuff--"

 

"--and raise him well, with kindness and honor and discipline, that you will," Kenshin added.  "And keep him safe, for that is why you are being sent in the first place."

 

"Wait a minute," Kaoru said urgently.  "Just how long is this supposed to last, Kenshin?  Just a week or two, right, 'til we can get this settled?"

 

"There is no telling," he said gently.  "It all depends on how long it takes Sôjirô to run his errand, and there are several factors this one cannot predict that might hinder his return."

 

Everyone looked startled.  "You mean Sôjirô's _not_ coming with us to take care of this child?" Megumi said.

 

"That is correct.  His mission will be secret, that it will.  Sôjirô, this one will speak with you alone.  Kaoru-dono, please ready Kenji for the journey, and give Megumi-dono, Sano, and Yahiko all the instructions and provisions they will need."

 

"A-All right," Kaoru said, but looked at him hard.  _'You're going to tell me what's going on, right?'_ she willed at him.  As if sensing the question, he smiled a little at her, but, in his typical way, did not answer.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Aaah, Neesan!  I thought your heart was made of ice, what could possibly have caused you to melt?"

 

Tomoe quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face her younger brother.  "What are you doing in my room, Enishi?"

 

"Is it a crime for a man to pay his sister a visit?" he teased, with a grin that was meant to be charming.

 

"No.  But I closed the door because I wanted to be alone."

 

"Yet I walked right through it.  Wasn't that a nifty trick, sis?  You wanna see what else I can do now that the old man's dead?"

 

"King Oberon was our father, Enishi," she said softly.  "Please speak of him with more respect."

 

He shrugged carelessly.  "Why?  It's about time he got out of the way.  You gonna begrudge me my new powers?"  Itching to show off, he picked up a glass of water on the table, and the liquid instantly froze solid.  Then, with a delicate crackling sound, it sprouted an exquisite little flower made entirely of ice.

 

Tomoe looked at it wordlessly.  Somehow, all she could think was that the light from the room's single lamp did not reflect off the surface at all.

 

"Neesan, are you not impressed?" he asked reproachfully.

 

Though he put up a teasing front, she could sense the genuine hurt behind his expression.  It was too much for her; she leaned over to kiss his forehead.  "It's very beautiful, Enishi.  Please place it back on my table so that I may look at it."

 

A smile broke over his face, and he carefully obeyed.  Then he straightened up and hugged her.  She continued to sit with her hands folded in her lap, showing no sign of either resistance or response.

 

"I love you so much, Neesan," he whispered into her hair.  "Don't ever go away from me again.  I'll punish the one who took you away - I'll punish him!"

 

The sudden tightness of his embrace was hurting her, but she could not speak for fear the sound of tears in her voice would betray her.  In a moment, it no longer mattered; he kissed the top of her head and then left without looking at her.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Fourteen years passed in the mortal realm.  Rumors flew for a long time about what had happened to the little prince and where he might now be.  Some said he had died as so many newborns did; others said he had been kidnapped by the fae and replaced with a changeling.  Still others proudly claimed that this or that child was actually the prince, given into their guardianship.

 

However, the rumors always remained rumors.  The gossiping castle staff always had a different story for where the tiny body might be buried or how such a changeling might have been disposed of, and every claimant to the throne was soon disproved by how easily the red crosses washed off.  The king and queen remained close-mouthed about the fate of their son, saying only that he was in a safe place and would one day return to inherit the throne in his father's place.  New bodyguards were hired quietly; the old court practitioner continued his healing alone.

 

The warriors of that country chafed under the Sword-Banning Act, passed soon after the prince's disappearance, but it was enforced swiftly and methodically.  Soon, any man seen carrying a metal blade could expect to spend time in prison after their weapons were confiscated, and the use of wooden swords became such a widespread practice that young children came to think of steel swords as legendary.

 

In time, the queen became pregnant again, this time with a daughter.  The celebrations for Princess Ayame's birth were nothing like her brother's, perhaps out of fear of attracting fey attention again.  Soon afterwards came her sister Suzume, and while more royal children were all well and good, the people would very much have preferred a male heir to set their minds at ease.  By this time, many were sure that their lost prince was never coming back.

 

As for the prince himself, he was aware of none of this.  He grew up in the forest, training in the manner of his heritage, and running his three guardians ragged.

 

"Oi, Megumi!  You seen the kid around?"  Sanosuke had returned with fresh meat for their evening meal, and was puzzled at how quiet the cottage was.

 

She looked up in annoyance from where she was preparing the prince's birthday sweets.  "Don't tell me you lost him again."

 

" _I_ didn't lose him, he was with Yahiko when I left."

 

Megumi shrugged.  "Well, it's been way too quiet out there for some time.  I'm busy with this, Sanosuke; go out and make sure Kenji hasn't knocked Yahiko-kun out and run off or something."

 

Sanosuke chuckled.  "Wouldn't surprise me....  But, hey!  I'm not your errand-boy, vixen!"

 

"You are if you want even a bite of Kenji's birthday treats."

 

Torn between dignity and food, Sanosuke finally gave in to the latter, grumbling under his breath as he went out.

 

There was no trace of either of his housemates in the clearing around the cottage, or even in the woods nearby.  Cursing, Sanosuke tramped into the woods in search of the missing pair; it would not do at all to have to report to Kenshin that they'd kept his son safe for fourteen years, and then freaking _lost_ him.

 

Meanwhile, the young prince was skipping merrily through the forest, attracting adorable woodland animals with the dulcet tones of his voice.  _"I wonder,"_ he sang, _"I wonder, why each little bird has someone_ \--  HEY!"  Startled by the boy's unexpected outburst, the woodland animals scattered away.  "What do you think you're _doing_?" he shouted at the sky.

 

_"Sorry...bad joke.  Back to business."_

 

"Mattaku," Kenji muttered as he continued on, this time minus the singing and skipping.  "Give someone a pen and they think they run the world...."

 

Then he frowned and came to a stop, his attention caught by the smell of smoke.  The forest wasn't on fire, was it?  Kenji followed the smell until he came to a little clearing, where he was relieved to find that the smoke belonged only to a tidy, contained fire.  Stacks of pots leaned against the walls of a cottage even tinier than the one Kenji lived in, and a very interesting-looking man was relaxing there, sipping from a little cup.  Kenji gazed at the hulking, cloaked figure for quite awhile before he plucked up his courage and approached.

 

"Not an animal," the man was muttering.  "Got to be human, but a young one...feels unpleasantly familiar, too.  Yet it _can't_ be him, he's long gone and much older now, anyway...eh, forget it."  The man finally turned around, his rock-hard gaze freezing Kenji in his tracks.  "So, my stupid apprentice," the man greeted conversationally.  "You've shrunk."

 

"Apprentice?" Kenji repeated in confusion.

 

The man frowned.  "Who _are_ you?"

 

"Who are _you_?" Kenji shot back.

 

"You're the one invading my home.  _You_ introduce yourself first."

 

Kenji folded his arms importantly.  "Kenji.  And you are?"

 

"Annoyed.  Go away, kid, I've got work to do."  The man rose to his feet and headed for the potter's oven nearby.

 

"Your name is 'Annoyed'?" Kenji said skeptically.

 

"If you wish."

 

"I wish your _real_ name, you old geezer!"

 

"You've got a worse mouth than your father did," the man grumbled, and Kenji's ears perked up.

 

"My father?  You know him?!"

 

"Nope."  _'Not anymore.'_

 

"Aw, come on!"  Kenji bounded over to the man.  "You can't say something like that and then clam up!"

 

The man said nothing, going about his work without a glance at the boy.

 

"Hey!  You can't just ignore me!"

 

 _'Yet somehow, I am,'_ the man thought in amusement.

 

A stubborn look crossed Kenji's face, and he went over to the stacks of pots by the cottage.

 

"Get away from there," the man ordered.

 

"These are really cool," Kenji said slyly, picking up a pot and tossing it up and down.

 

"Put it down."

 

"But I really like it!"

 

The man growled and gave in.  "Hiko Seijûrô.  I taught your father - or at least, a whiny, red-haired, cross-faced shrimp who looked a _lot_ like you - the art of kenjutsu."

 

"Kenjutsu?" Kenji said interestedly.  "Yahiko teaches me that, too.  What's your style?"

 

"I answered your first question.  Go away."

 

"His is Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu.  I'm better at it than _he_ is.  Hey, teach me a cool move!"

 

"Are you deaf?"

 

"Nope, just annoying," Kenji said cheerfully.  "Hey, that's a funny-lookin' sword you got.  Looks heavy."

 

"For you, it would be," Hiko mumbled.

 

"Can I see it?"

 

"No."

 

"Ooh, I didn't even notice these cool pots over _here_...."

 

Hiko had had enough.  He grabbed Kenji by the scruff of the neck, dragged him to the edge of the clearing, and flung him out among the trees.  "Go away, kid.  I'm too old to be dealing with smart-aleck brats."

 

"You really think you can get rid of me like this?"

 

"I am a master magician in addition to being an expert swordsman.  I can get rid of you in _several_ ways, none of them pretty."

 

"Aw, come on, I just wanted to see a sword-move!  And hear about my dad.  And find out who you are.  And--"

 

Hiko raised a hand, which began to fizzle ominously with green lightning.  "You like frogs, kid?  Or would you prefer to be turned into a pig or a squirrel?  Take your pick, makes no difference to me."

 

Before the boy could answer, a voice echoed faintly from the woods.  _"Oi, Kenji!  Where are you?!  If you're not here in five minutes, I'll - I'll...make you SORRY!"_

 

"Yahiko," Kenji muttered, and cursed.  "He's awake.  I gotta go, Shishô.  See you tomorrow!"  Waving, he darted away with the swift grace of a deer.

 

"Shishô," Hiko repeated in disbelief.  "Not again."  Then he frowned, gazing off in the direction Kenji had gone.

 

This was an irritating development.  Hiko had not seen Himura Kenshin in years, but now suddenly here was his son, growing up in the forest with no knowledge of his true identity.  "I have a bad feeling about this...."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenji's eyes were open before dawn, despite the fact that he had stayed up late the night before, celebrating his birthday with Megumi and the others.  He slipped out of bed, dressed hurriedly, grabbed his shinai, and crept down the stairs as noiselessly as a mouse.

 

Megumi's sleeping habits were pretty normal, but Yahiko was usually up insanely early to practice swordsmanship on his own, and Sanosuke slept like a log only when it suited him.  He could sleep straight through an earthquake or Megumi's bellowing, but if an intruder so much as stepped on a twig, he'd be up and ready to fight in seconds.  Kenji had gotten quite good at sneaking out of the house, but his methods were by no means perfect; he still got caught occasionally, so caution was required.

 

It was fun to trek through the forest so early in the morning, when the birds were just barely beginning their sleepy warbling and the sun peeked shyly over the horizon, still wondering if it was time to get up yet.  Dew dripped from the leaves, plonking softly to the grass below.

 

When Kenji was some distance away from the cottage, he pulled his shinai free and began to swing it enthusiastically, preparing for the day when he would get to fight against real enemies instead of a bossy punk or inanimate objects.  "Head!  Shoulder!"  Then, quickly tiring of the lame Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu attacks, he began making up his own.  "Kenji Secret Move:  Bone-Crush!  Hyooooh!  Take that, evil warlord!  Kenji _Super_ -Secret Move:  Head-Spli--  Oof!"

 

Kenji suddenly crashed into what felt like an invisible wall and was tossed back onto his butt.  "What the heck?"  He glared at the air in front of him.  He knew he was close to his destination, the home of that cool magician/swordsman/potter.  The guy couldn't have put up a barrier, could he?  Kenji got back to his feet and pushed at the air, which pushed back.  "He _did_!  That's guy's trying to keep me out!"

 

A stubborn look crossed the boy's face.  Drawing his shinai, he backed up and then charged.  "Hyah!"  Bamboo crashed onto magical nothingness and bounced right back off, stinging Kenji's hands.  He cursed and kicked at the invisible wall, then howled and clutched at his aching foot.

 

"Will you please _shut up_?"  Hiko's imposing figure came looming out of the trees beyond the barrier.  He smirked when he saw Kenji, who quickly straightened and brandished the shinai.

 

"Let me through, Shishô!"

 

"Not a chance.  I put this up specifically to keep you out."

 

"Oh yeah?  Well, I've got news for you, old man.  I am Kenji of the forest!  No walls can hold me or keep me out!"

 

"Is that so?" Hiko said leisurely, crossing his arms and giving the boy a skeptical look.

 

Kenji's eyes narrowed.  Hacking at the barrier with his shinai wasn't going to work.  If only he had some kind of magical--  Ah.

 

"Yes, it is," he asserted.  He put his hands on his hips for emphasis, and to disguise the fact that he was reaching into his pocket.  Hiko, however, did not miss the little flicker of motion.  "Mastery of Two Layers!" Kenji announced, and slammed his fist against the barrier.  "Hah!"

 

The barrier did not explode, but Kenji's hand slipped right through, followed by the rest of him.  He stood there, grinning triumphantly at Hiko, who frowned.

 

"Mastery of Two Layers, my butt," the man decided, and darted out a hand to see what Kenji had clenched in his fist.

 

"No!" the boy shouted, but the struggle was a short one; Hiko had soon pried open his fingers to reveal - a few apple seeds.

 

"What the heck?" Hiko wondered.

 

"They're mine," Kenji said sulkily, snatching them back and burying them safely back in his pocket.  "My granny gave them to me."

 

Hiko gave him a wary look.  "Your great-grandmother, I would guess.  Things just keep getting worse and worse.  Whatever.  Just stay out of my way, kid."  He turned and headed back toward the cottage, with Kenji trailing behind happily.

 

"Hey, are you gonna teach me sword-moves today?"

 

"No," Hiko said shortly, despite knowing that the kid would most likely manage to prove him a liar.

 

"Pleeeeaase, just a _little_ one?"

 

"There aren't any 'little' sword moves," he said in disgust.

 

"Good, then teach me a big one!"

 

Hiko stopped and whirled to face him.  "I made a mistake to teach Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu to Himura Kenshin.  I'm not stupid enough to go teaching it to his son next."

 

"Heheh.  So his name's Himura Kenshin, and your sword style is Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu."

 

Hiko rolled his eyes and tramped on.

 

"Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu doesn't let you kill anyone; is Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu like that, too?"

 

"Try not killing someone with the Ryuutsuisen," Hiko muttered.

 

"Dragon-hammer Strike?" Kenji said interestedly.  "How's that one work?"

 

Hiko paused.  Then he shrugged.  "Leap high into the air, which adds great force to your strike as you descend; arms like this.  The weapon being in this hand, of course."

 

Kenji drew in a breath as the move played itself out in his mind - he could virtually _see_ how it would work against an enemy.  "Shishô, you HAVE to teach me that!" Kenji begged.

 

"Bug off, kid."

 

"I'm not gonna leave 'til you teach me!"

 

"Fine."

 

Kenji's mouth dropped open.  "Really?"

 

"Sure, I'll teach you, kid.  I'm sure that Megumi of yours would love having some nice new cooking pots."

 

"What are you...?  HEY!  Not _pottery_ , you idiot!"

 

Hiko turned to face him again.  "Oh, so it's 'idiot' now.  Is that how you address someone you're supposed to respect as your master?"

 

Kenji immediately dropped to his knees and made obeisance in such an exaggerated manner that Hiko rolled his eyes.  "I beg of you to condescend to teach this lowly one your secret arts, oh great and mighty Hiko-sama!"

 

"Request denied."  Hiko walked on again, smirking a little.

 

"What?!"  Kenji popped up like a grasshopper and tried to tackle him.  "No one treats Himura Kenji like that and walks away grinning!"

 

Exactly one swift, careful punch later, Hiko did just that.

 

Kenji, groaning and clutching his stomach, slowly climbed back to his feet and hobbled after the man.  "Shishô...come on...I'm serious, I wanna learn kenjutsu, and you're the best one to teach me.  Please?  Please let me learn from you, Shishô."

 

A little surprised, Hiko looked back and was unprepared for what he saw.  The look on the boy's face was earnest, pleading, frustrated, lonely...and those big blue eyes were glimmering with a look that was way too familiar.

 

"Himura Kenji," Hiko said slowly.  "Why is it that you want to learn kenjutsu so much?  What is it you plan to do with your skill?"

 

Kenji scowled.  "I wanna get out of the forest.  I wanna see what the world is really like.  I wanna...I want to defend myself so that...Megumi and the others won't worry about me anymore."

 

Hiko pondered this, then shrugged.  "Not good enough."

 

"What?!"  Kenji's eyes blazed.  "What's good enough, then?  What am I supposed to say?!  What are you looking for, Shishô!"

 

Hiko frowned.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu is unbeatable in the hands of one who has truly mastered it.  It is meant for the defense of the weak, not for selfish gratification.  You're just an antsy punk kid, what do you care about justice, or the troubles of others?"

 

"But I...!"  Kenji had no real answer to that.

 

"At least your father treated life seriously.  His eyes...girly though they were, there was a passion in them, a passion to serve others, not himself.  I saw the potential in him; even as a child, he had tasted true hardship and retained a pure heart.  You are nothing like him."

 

"I'm a KID!" Kenji exploded.  "I'm not _supposed_ to care about all that!  So, what, was my father born some kind of saint or something?  How can you expect that from anyone _normal_?"

 

"Hmph."  Hiko shook his head.  "Tell you what:  I'm not teaching you Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu.  But there _is_ something...."

 

Kenji's head lifted hopefully.

 

"Fourteen years ago, some weak-kneed pansy of a servant stumbled in here, chucked a sword at my feet, and fled without a word.  The sword belonged to your father - I'll never know what the heck he meant me to do with it, but...I suppose you can have it.  If you _want_ it, that is."

 

"Of course I want it!"

 

The sword, when Hiko finally dropped it into Kenji's hands, was so heavy that Kenji grunted and nearly fell over.  "What the heck is this?  It's way too heavy to be a sword!"

 

"Shows how much you know."

 

Kenji grasped the hilt and slowly drew it out, then stared at it.  "It's made of metal."

 

"What were you expecting?" Hiko said in annoyance.  "Crystal?"

 

"Wood, of course!"

 

"Your father may have been an idiot, but he had no reason to waste his talents with a bokutô."

 

"What do you mean?  _All_ swords are made of wood.  Real ones, anyway."  He hitched his shoulder, where the shinai hung.

 

Hiko stared at him.  "Have you been living under a rock?"

 

"Um, no," Kenji said defensively.  "Who uses _metal_ swords, besides weirdos like you?"

 

Hiko scratched his head.  There was definitely something wrong here.

 

Kenji, losing interest in the argument, was inspecting the weapon.

 

"You're holding it upside-down," Hiko pointed out.

 

Kenji frowned.  "But the cutting edge is this way."

 

"It's a sakabatô.  Don't ask me where he got it or what he used it for."

 

"A reversed blade," Kenji murmured, hefting the sword with some difficulty and attempting to swing it.  He was not used to its weight, however, and he lost his grip.  Fumbling for it automatically, his fingers caught at the blade, the sharp edge slicing open lines of blood.

 

"What are you doing?" Hiko said sharply, but it was too late.  Kenji stood there for a moment, a confused look on his face, the sword lying heavily in the grass at his feet.  Then he closed his eyes, slid to his knees, and dropped softly into the grass, blood dripping from his hands.

 

Hiko rolled his eyes, then knelt and shook the boy's shoulder.  "I thought you were an idiot, but I never expected you to be squeamish enough to faint at the sight of blood."

 

There was no response from Kenji, and Hiko frowned.  "Kid.  Hey, _kid_."  He shook harder.  The boy's head lolled in an unencouraging way.  Hiko placed his fingers to the boy's neck, and his eyes widened when he could not find a pulse.  His hand flew to the boy's heart, which was still beating in a sluggish way, but when he tried looking for a pulse again, there was none.  The boy's skin was growing cold under his fingers.

 

"Oh...crap."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  "Mattaku" means something like "geez."

At first I was going to make Kenji seven years old (because seven's a significant number to the fae), but then I realized he wouldn't be strong enough to hold a steel sword.  So I upped the age to fourteen for two reasons; not only is it a multiple of seven, but that is also the age Kenshin was when he became a hitokiri in the manga.


	21. Chapter 21

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 2 - In which Sôjirô returns with some bad news.**

**A/N:  "Joou" ("queen") is the feminine version of Ô, and it looks horrible in English no matter how you spell it.  It can be spelled correctly as Joou, Jooh, or Joô, but it's a long /o/, so it does NOT rhyme with "zoo."**

 

_"When she came to Carterhaugh_

_Tam Lin was at the well,_

_And there she found his steed standing,_

_But away was himself."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

_They never, ever left him alone - or at least, they tried not to.  Yet sometimes, such as the incident when he was seven years old, it couldn't be helped._

_Sanosuke had been gone setting traps, and Megumi was out gathering herbs.  Yahiko heard her scream for help and had run off to find her, instructing Kenji in the severest of tones to stay in the house and not open the door to ANYONE.  Kenji thought that was stupid, since no one ever_ came _to the cottage besides the four of them, but whatever._

_He had been happily busy dragging some of Megumi's clothes through blue and pink paint when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  Kenji cocked his head in puzzlement, because no one had ever knocked on the door before._

_A scratchy, quavering voice came from outside, a sound which frightened Kenji, for he had never heard a voice other than his own and those of his guardians.  "Little boy, little boy, please let me in."_

_"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" Kenji chanted back automatically, echoing the familiar story._

_"But child, you have no hairs on your sweet young chin."_

_He frowned.  "I'm growing 'em," he called back defensively.  "By tomorrow I'll have a big long beard and be a grown-up man!"_

_There was a rasping laugh.  "Is that so?  Then come be a gentlemen and open the door to a poor old woman.  Your granny's tired old feet can't hold her up much longer."_

_"Can't open the door to anyone," he said stubbornly, delighting in the opportunity to be an annoyance._

_"You can't open the door to strangers, you mean," the withered voice said persuasively.  "But of course you can open the door to your loving grandmother, who came all this way to see you, my dear."_

_"Don't got a granny."_

_"Oh, yes you do, Himura Kenji.  Now open the door like a good little boy.  Don't you want to grow up fast and be a man?  Granny's got something special to grant that very wish."_

_He leaped to his feet and trotted to the door, flinging it open.  A bent old lady stood there, wrapped in a ragged black cloak and grinning a nearly-toothless grin._

_"You're ugly," he told her._

_She paused for only a moment, the spark of fury in her eyes swiftly hidden.  "Such is the fate of the elderly, my dear."_

_"Where's my special wish?"_

_From within the folds of her cloak she drew something out - an apple, small and sweet, with the smoothest, most blood-red skin he had ever seen.  "This is for you, dear.  Take it - one bite, and you'll be a tall, strong man."_

_He reached for it eagerly and chomped at it, his teeth tearing away huge delicious chunks.  He did not see the triumphant, almost greedy smile on her face as she watched him._

_As the last bite entered his mouth, he tried to swallow too hastily; the bit of fruit lodged in his throat, and his eyes widened.  He tried to speak, but all that came out was a faint whistle of air; he reached for his throat and gagged, his body convulsing.  Finally, his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground, unconscious._

_The old woman laughed, and her ugliness suddenly melted away from her in a twinkling wave of light.  She stood ageless and strong and immortal, her beauty unrivaled, her cold eyes surveying the boy with satisfaction.  "Granny was quite glad to be able to see you at last, my love.  Be a good boy for me, and make that Unseelie wench's life miserable."  Stooping, she kissed the boy's forehead, then drew her cloak around her again.  It was an old woman once more who hobbled away from the cottage, leaving behind the boy's fallen body._

_"...I can't believe you left him_ alone _, you idiot!"_

_"I went to help_ you _, ungrateful vixen!"_

_"If I'd needed rescuing, I would have called!"_

_"You_ did _call, moron!  See if I come running next time!"_

_"I did no such thing, you stupid--  Kenji!"_

_The ran to him, horrified, and Megumi took charge at once.  Though she was able to revive him, Kenji was never the same after that, and the incident was a puzzling one.  It was not until much later that they truly understood what had happened that day._

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

A good-looking young man stepped out of thin air, and nearly slipped when he stepped on a cluster of mushrooms.  "Whoops.  That was close."

 

"He came out of the sky!" a little girl's voice shrieked.

 

The young man looked up curiously to see two children staring at him.

 

"He didn't come out of the sky, Suzume," the older one told her sister.  "He came out of nothing."

 

"Nothing!" cried the smaller girl happily.

 

The young man smiled and bent to put his hands on his knees so he could address them better.  "Hello.  Do you girls happen to know where the castle is?"

 

The children stared at him, then burst into giggles.  "Silly," the older one said.  "This _is_ the castle!"

 

The young man looked around, taking in the beautifully verdant garden they were standing in, two people laughing and talking on a bench, and the familiar castle walls looming up beyond the garden's prettily-painted fence.

 

"So I see," he murmured.  "You two are much too well-dressed to be servants...ambassadors' children, then?  Looks like your nurse and your bodyguard are having a bit too much fun over there."

 

"Fun!" cheered the younger girl.

 

"We're not servants, or 'ambidant' children," the older girl told him.  "We're _princesses_!"

 

"Of course you are," he humored her.  "And lovely ones, too."

 

"Yup," the older child agreed.  "Daddy says we're the most beautiful princesses _ever_!"  Then she blinked, as if a thought had occurred to her.  "Are you looking for the castle because you want to talk to Daddy?"

 

"I need to see the king," the young man acknowledged, "though I'm not sure he's your father."

 

"Of _course_ he's our daddy!  Come on, you'll never see him the _normal_ way.  You have to wait in line for ages and ages, and register with Mr. Bamboo-Curtain Head, and wait ages and ages more, and _then_ you can see Daddy.  But come on, I'll take you the shortcut way!"

 

"It's a shortcut," the younger girl laughed.

 

"'Mr. Bamboo-Curtain Head'?" the young man wondered, allowing the children to seize his hands and lead him away.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was barely even ten o'clock, yet Kenshin and Kaoru already had their hands full with the day's work.

 

"Hiwatari-san," Kenshin said patiently, surveying the angry-looking artist before him, "it's been fourteen years.  The stolen paintings have already been compensated for, that they have."

 

"Yes," Kaoru put in.  "Why are you wasting our time with some old family grudge, when there are people with much more pressing problems that need attending to?"

 

"I want them to _pay_!" Hiwatari yelled, pointing an enraged finger at the family he was attempting to sue.  "Those Niwas are thieves, every last one of them!  I don't care about the money, I want them behind bars!"

 

"Your paintings are the ones that should be behind bars!" the petite Niwa matron yelled back.  "They're cursed, you know!  We're keeping them _safe_!"

 

"Safe?" Hiwatari shot back.  "That's completely beside the point!  You have no _right_ to those paintings!"

 

His son calmly tugged on his sleeve.  "Dad.  They can keep the paintings.  They belong to me, anyway, and I don't care who has them, as long as they are kept under control."

 

"You be quiet, Satoshi," Hiwatari ordered.

 

He turned back to the king, but Kenshin held up a hand.  "Hiwatari-san, your foster-son has a point, that he does.  As the last descendant of his family, it is he who has guardianship of the artwork, and he has stated that it may remain in the care of the Niwa family.  Now please, allow us to consider another case."

 

Hiwatari looked like he was going to argue, but at that point, the doors to the throne room burst open.  A man strode in as if he owned the place, his figure accentuated by the huge white cloak swirling around him.  He was carrying something over his shoulder, and was trailed by Sanosuke, Yahiko, Megumi, and a host of court lackeys twittering angrily at him to wait his turn in line.

 

Kenshin took one look and rose to his feet.  "Leave us, all of you."  The guards and the ladies and gentlemen of the court glanced at him in surprise, but at a thunderous look from the queen, they all began filing out.  Hiwatari was dragged away, still shouting, followed by his rather embarrassed-looking son and the curious Niwas.

 

Hiko Seijûrô strode forward, swept aside the piles of documents on the nearest table, and carefully slung his burden onto it.  Then he turned to Kenshin.  "I happened to come across a couple of things that belong to you.  Apparently it's high time you took them back."  He held out the sakabatô, his eyes snapping with annoyance.  "Next time, run your own errands.  I assume the servant who delivered this also had a message that should have gone something like, _'Do not under any circumstances give this to the prince.'_ "

 

Kaoru cried out and rushed to the table where her son lay.  It was the first time she had seen him since he was an infant, and she wept as she reached out to touch his face, to smooth the bangs from his eyes, to sob as she felt his cold skin.

 

Kenshin felt as if he had gone numb all over.  He couldn't even feel his feet touching the floor as he made his way over to his old master, reached out, and grasped the sakabatô.  "This sword," he whispered.  "Of all the ones that could have...."  Hiko let go of it, and in Kenshin's grip it dropped straight down, as if he had no strength to hold it aloft.  "Faerie does have a sense of irony," he said softly, and wished suddenly that he could draw that sword and drive it into the heart of Faerie itself.

 

"Your people explained things to me," Hiko said, jerking his head in the direction of Sanosuke and the others.  "First time _I_ ever heard of this ridiculous Sword-Banning Act.  You of all people should know you can't combat evil enchantments like that."

 

"Can this one be blamed for trying?" Kenshin growled.  "What would _you_ have done better?"

 

"Gone after Enishi himself, of course."

 

Kenshin gave him a furious look, though his voice was still relatively calm.  "And what kind of a king would this one be if, after having abandoned his country for over twenty years, he left it _again_ to go chasing into Faerie?  Wasn't it you who always said that fulfilling one's duty comes before pursuing personal desires?"

 

"So instead, you sent in a mortal with no control over the boundaries between worlds," Hiko observed.  "It's been fourteen years, yet for all we know, that Seta kid might have only just reached the Unseelie court.  How long are you planning to wait, baka deshi?"

 

"For as long as is needed," Kenshin shot back.  "Who else was there to send?  _You?_ "

 

"He's alive!"  Interrupted in their grief-fueled argument, the two men turned to Kaoru, who gazed back at them with her face pale and tear-streaked.  "Kenshin...his heart is beating."

 

Kenshin was at her side almost instantly.  Laying his hand on Kenji's chest, he was amazed to feel a faint heartbeat under his fingers.  Finally allowing himself to truly look at his son for the first time, his eyes drank in the boy's face, the pale cross on his cheek, the dark red hair and fine features.

 

Kaoru leaned her head against her husband's shoulder.  "He looks so much like you," she whispered.  "Oh Kenshin, if only...."

 

He took her hand and squeezed it.  "Perhaps," he murmured, "it is fortunate that it should have been the sakabatô after all.  His Seelie blood would have been more resistant to that particular sword."

 

Kenshin at last turned to the other three people in the room.  As soon as his attention was on them, Yahiko and Megumi dropped to their knees, bowing with their faces to the floor in a gesture of humiliation that they had never used toward him before.

 

"We've failed you, Your Majesty," Yahiko said shortly, addressing his sovereign with unaccustomed formality.  "We are prepared for the consequences."

 

"Forgive us," Megumi said softly.  "I'm afraid...this is not the first time Kenji has come to harm."

 

Sanosuke had remained on his feet, but he was skulking by the door with his shoulders hunched and hands buried deep in his pockets.  His eyes met Kenshin's straight on, glittering with fury and shame.  "I don't know what you plan to do to us, Kenshin.  But if I survive it, I swear to you that some fairies are gonna die for what they did to Kenji."

 

Kenshin shook his head.  "Get up," he said wearily.  "It's obvious there was nothing you could have done."  His eyes narrowed slightly.  "What was it you were saying, Megumi-dono?"

 

She rose and said solemnly, "Seven years ago, we found Kenji lying unconscious in the cottage.  He had choked on a piece of apple and couldn't breathe, but by the time we got back to him, it should have been too late.  I don't know how he survived...but after that, he...."  She trailed off, looking uncertain.

 

"What?" Kaoru demanded.  "What happened, Megumi-san!"

 

"He had two heartbeats," Yahiko said bluntly.  "We could freaking hear two rhythms going, it was the weirdest thing."  He glanced back at Megumi.  "It was like that for the past seven years, until...."

 

"Until he touched the sakabatô," Megumi finished.  "Now that he has fallen under the enchantment, his heart still beats, but only one; and he has no pulse.  Ken-Ô - I think that Kenji is supposed to be dead."

 

Kenshin and Kaoru stared at her, then back down at their son, who lay still and silent.

 

Just then, the throne room doors opened again.  The six of them turned indignantly to face the intruders, but were brought up short when it became obvious who they were.

 

"Daddy!  Mommy!" Princess Ayame announced.  "This guy wants to talk to you!"

 

"He wants to talk to you!" Princess Suzume insisted.

 

"Mr. Bamboo-Curtain Head almost didn't let us in!" Ayame added reproachfully.

 

"Ha ha," laughed the young man who was with them.  "Ayame-chan, I don't think that's very nice to Saitô-san."

 

She gave him a sheepish look.  "Oh yeah."  Then she turned and called up to the scary-looking man standing behind her, "Sorry, Saitô-san!"

 

"Sorry!  Sorry!" chanted her sister.

 

Saitô Hajime gave her a cold look.  "Apology accepted."  Then he looked up at the king and queen.  "Obviously you're dealing with important business, but the princesses _insisted_ this couldn't wait.  I'll leave it to you."  He closed the doors again, leaving the young man standing with all eyes on him.

 

Seta Sôjirô smiled.  "Sorry to interrupt, Himura-Ô, but I figured you'd be interested in my report."  As he glanced around the room, his eyes suddenly widened when he caught sight of Kenji lying on the table.  "What...?!"  He was at the boy's side in an instant, gazing down at him in shock.

 

"He's not dead," Kaoru said in a wavering voice.  "His heart is still beating."  She turned pleading eyes to Kenshin.  "He's not dead, right?"

 

Sôjirô was staring as if he could not believe what he saw.  "How old is he?" he finally asked weakly.

 

Kenshin answered in a quiet voice.  "He has just turned fourteen."

 

Sôjirô turned to look at Ayame and Suzume with new eyes.  "They really are your daughters," he realized.  Then he turned his full attention to the others in the room - Kenshin looked the same as ever, but Kaoru, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Megumi all showed signs of their aging.

 

"Forgive me, Sôjirô," Kenshin said.  "This one had hoped that, with your fae blood, you would be less affected by crossing the boundaries between worlds, but I was wrong."

 

Sôjirô took a while to answer.  "In Faerie, it was only a week or so," he murmured.  "Apparently, the few drops I have is not enough."  He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the smile was back in place.  "Well.  Can't be helped, I suppose.  I knew what I was getting into."  He shook his head, then looked back at the boy on the table.  "The more pressing matter is this...."  He felt for the boy's heartbeat, then chuckled.  "That's a relief.  For a moment there, I thought Yukishiro-Ô had lied to me after all...but then, his sister would not have said what she did if that had been the case."

 

Kenshin and Kaoru looked at him hopefully.  "What do you have to tell us, Sôjirô?" the king asked.

 

Sôjirô turned to them, and his smile faded.  "Himura-Ô, I need to speak to you alone."

 

Kenshin looked at him.  Then at Kaoru.  Then back at Sôjirô, who grinned.  "Yes, completely alone."

 

"What?" Kaoru burst out.  "I'm the _queen_ , Sôjirô!  Kenji is my _son_!  Don't you dare think you're going to try to keep secrets from me, not if you know how to save him!"

 

"Kaoru-Jooh," Sôjirô said gravely.  "Given the nature of my report, I think it is up to your husband to decide whether it is fit to tell you or not."

 

Kaoru looked ready to deck him.  Kenshin, however, already getting a sense of what Sôjirô had to say, held her back.  "Kaoru-dono," he murmured.  "Please be patient.  I will take care of this."

 

She frowned at him.  "Don't give me that look.  Just because you're a king doesn't mean you're responsible for fixing every problem in the world."  He smiled at that, but did not answer.

 

After he and Sôjirô had disappeared into an empty council room, Kaoru leaned back against the table and clenched her fist.  "They drive me nuts sometimes."

 

"Mm," Megumi murmured, with a trace of her old smile.  "Does that mean you're getting tired of Ken-Ô?  I wouldn't mind taking him off your hands for a while."

 

"Megumi-san!" Kaoru snapped.

 

"Aw, she's just teasing you," Yahiko sighed.  "Lighten up, busu-Jooh."  He thought ruefully a second later that he was supposed to use his swordsmanship to defend his queen, not defend himself _from_ her.

 

The little girls had, by now, climbed up on the table to get a better look at the sleeping boy.  "He's got a cross just like Daddy!" Ayame exclaimed, tracing the birthmark on Kenji's cheek with one finger.

 

"That's because he's your big brother, Ayame-chan," Kaoru explained, turning away from a dizzy Yahiko.  "Remember how we told you?"

 

"He came back!" Ayame gasped in delight.  "Niisan can come live with us again!"

 

"Wake up, Niisan!" Suzume ordered cheerfully, poking Kenji in the ribs.  Of course he didn't move.

 

"Be nice, Suzume-chan," Kaoru told her.  "He's kind of...sick right now."

 

"Sick?"  The girls were suddenly staring at her with stricken faces.

 

Kaoru forced herself to smile.  "Don't worry.  It will be all right."

 

"'Cause Daddy will fix everything!" Suzume cheered, and Ayame smiled brightly.

 

"Come on, Suzume," she told her younger sister.  "Let's go get Niisan some soup!  Soup is good for sick people."

 

"Soup!" Suzume agreed.  They wriggled back down to the floor and trotted eagerly in the direction of the kitchens.

 

Hiko shook his head.  "'Daddy will fix everything,'" he muttered.

 

"He always does," Kaoru said weakly.  "Nothing's ever come up that Kenshin can't handle...."

 

"...Yet," Hiko finished pointedly, and Kaoru looked away.

 

It seemed like ages before Kenshin and Sôjirô finally came back.  Sôjirô was still smiling as he glanced at the king, but Kenshin seemed lost in his thoughts, his bangs swinging forward to hide his eyes.

 

"Kenshin?" Kaoru said anxiously, knowing that the others were also aching to hear the news.

 

At the sound of her voice, Kenshin raised his head and smiled at her.  "It's all right, Kaoru-dono.  There is a way to save him, that there is.  It looks like this one will be going to Faerie after all."

 

Sanosuke rolled his eyes.  "Figures."

 

"What do you have to do?" Megumi wanted to know.

 

"Mm, nothing too complicated.  However, Kaoru-dono...."  He turned to her with a rather apprehensive look.  "Do forgive this one, but circumstances...seem to require that, um...."  It took a while for him to get up the nerve to tell her, and when he finally did, her reaction completely justified his hesitation.

 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T COME?!?!"

 

"Scary!" the little girls cried, and ran to hide behind Sôjirô.  "Mommy's scary!"

 

Kenshin sheepishly tried to fend off his enraged wife.  "Kaoru-dono...it's for the best...this one can handle the situation better alone--"

 

"Alone!" she cried, swiping at him with her bokutô.  "Alone!  Why do you always have to do things _alone_?!"

 

"'Cause he thinks none of us are strong enough to help," Sanosuke suggested darkly.  "We'd just get in the way, right, Kenshin?"

 

"It-It's not that...."

 

"Liar," Yahiko said matter-of-factly.

 

"Kaoru-dono."  Kenshin suddenly caught the descending weapon with one hand, and took Kaoru's other hand in his free one.  "Your task has nothing to do with Faerie," he said gently.  "The girls would miss you if you left, but even aside from that, the kingdom will need you in this one's absence.  This one is depending on you to take care of things _here_ , Kaoru-dono."

 

Kaoru nearly burst into tears in frustration.  "I'm your _wife_ , Kenshin!  I should be by your side!"

 

Feeling her hands go limp, he used them to pull her close so he could kiss her cheek.  "You have been everything a man could ask for, and more.  Words cannot express how much this one loves you.  Please grant him your trust, Kaoru-dono."

 

This time she really did cry - for about five seconds.  Then she jerked back and delivered him a good whack to the head.  " _That's_ to remember me by when you're _gone_!" she huffed, and stormed out of the room.

 

"Oro..." Kenshin wailed softly, rubbing at his aching head.

 

"Normally," Megumi mused, "I would offer my comfort and encouragement against a certain shrew of a wife...but I'm almost inclined to hit you myself, Ken-Ô."

 

"Don't listen to these emotional women," Hiko suggested, looking rather bored.  "Dragging along luggage would only slow you down."

 

"Oh, so we're 'luggage,' now, are we?" Sanosuke demanded hotly.

 

Hiko looked him straight in the eye.  "Sorry to tell you, Spiky, but you're no match for Yukishiro.  Kenshin, idiot though he is, at least has a chance.  He doesn't need to expend extra energy trying to protect a pack of adoring, useless weaklings."

 

"Shishô," Kenshin said in alarm, but it was too late, Sanosuke's short temper had been ignited.

 

Leaving them to it, Kenshin sighed, took one last look at Kenji, then went over to the others.  "Thank you very much - it is good to see you all back home.  You are dismissed, so please take as much time as you need to rest and refresh yourselves before you resume your previous duties."

 

"Daddy," Ayame ventured, "are you going away?"

 

He reached down to hug his daughters.  "Yes, Ayame-chan.  This one is leaving so that your brother will be well again."

 

"Yay!" Suzume cheered, and Ayame gifted him with a beautiful smile.  "I'm so glad, Daddy!  You always make everything all right."

 

He smiled as hard as he could and did not answer.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Slipped in a bit of Snow White while I was at it.  That was Titania, btw.

 

The girls came back with the soup while Kenshin and Sôjirô were still talking.

 

Baka deshi means "stupid apprentice," or "idiot pupil," etc.

 

Sôjirô's only got a tiny bit of fairy blood, to explain his speed.  I wouldn't have made him fae at all otherwise.


	22. Chapter 22

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 3 - In which Kaoru messes up Kenshin's plans.**

 

_"Janet has tucked her green skirts_

_A little above her knee,_

_And she has braided her yellow hair_

_A little above her brow,_

_And she's away to Carterhaugh_

_As fast as she can go."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

The curtains were flung apart, flooding the room with bright morning sunlight.  Kaoru flinched and curled up tighter under the blankets (under which she had slept alone the night before, by her own stubborn choice).  "Go away," she mumbled.

 

Megumi's lips tightened, and she marched over the bed.  "Get up, Jooh," she ordered.  "He's leaving in a few minutes.  If you're not out there when he does, you will regret it, do you hear me?"

 

" _He_ won't," Kaoru mumbled.  "Prob'ly jus'...tryin' t' get 'way frm me...."

 

Megumi's eyes narrowed.  She nodded to Tae and the other maids huddled curiously in the doorway, and they quickly came over to help.  "On my count, girls," Megumi instructed.

 

"Hey!" Kaoru protested when she felt them taking hold of her.

 

"One - two - three!"

 

The covers were thrown off and Kaoru found herself swung bodily out of bed by the giggling women.  "Let go of me!" she raged.  "Where's my sword?!  I'll clobber you!"

 

"H-Here's your gown, Your Majesty," Tsubame offered, a terrified look on her face as she clutched an ornate dress almost heavy enough to make her lose her balance.

 

Kaoru glared, but tried to calm her expression when she saw the timid girl.  "Thanks, Tsubame-chan, but...I'm not wearing _that_ , at least.  If he wants me, he can deal with me ugly."  She got up and marched straight out of the bedroom - nightgown, bed-hair, bare feet and all.

 

"What a stubborn idiot," Megumi sighed, and followed her out.

 

Servants quickly got out of the way and tried not to stare as Kaoru came sweeping imperiously past them in her night-clothes.  She found her husband surrounded by a crowd of people just inside the doors to the Grand Balcony, where important public announcements were often made.  He looked to be in some last-minute conversation with Sanosuke and Saitô.

 

Sôjirô looked up and smiled brightly when he saw her.  "Good morning, Kaoru-Jooh."

 

The others all turned.  Sanosuke grinned as if to say, _'I knew you had more guts than that,'_ Yahiko smirked at her disheveled appearance, and Kenshin looked immensely relieved.  "Kaoru-dono," he greeted her, almost questioningly.

 

"I came...to say good-bye," she grumbled, her voice more unfriendly than she meant it to be.

 

It was just like him to see past that to the pain and turmoil beneath.  He smiled warmly and came over to wrap his arms around her.  "This one will miss you," he whispered for her ears alone.  "Kaoru-dono...this one loves you so much, that he does."

 

Kaoru frowned.  He sounded more serious than she expected.  "Kenshin?"  She couldn't say anymore, because suddenly he was kissing her - and not one of the chaste kisses they usually reserved for when they were in public, but rather one that was so thorough it was beginning to make Kaoru blush, since dozens of people were watching.

 

"Eeeew!" a high-pitched voice shrieked.  "Mommy and Daddy are kissing!"

 

"Yucky!" was the happy agreement.

 

Kenshin and Kaoru burst into laughter, which was a little awkward considering how their mouths were already occupied.  They turned to find their daughters staring up at them with wide eyes, filled with partially with disgust but even more with delight.

 

"Kiss me, too, Daddy!" Ayame begged, "Kiss me good-bye!"  Kenshin reached down to deliver kisses of a different sort, taking the girls into his arms one last time.

 

"Will you bring us back presents?" Ayame wanted to know ("Presents?" was Suzume's instant query).

 

"Haha...we will see."

 

"Bring me a rose, Daddy!"

 

"You mean a rose like your mother's?" he said, smoothing her hair affectionately as he avoided her question.

 

"Just like Mama's!"

 

"We'll see," he whispered again, and suddenly hid his face against her hair. 

 

Kaoru frowned as she watched him.  "Kenshin?  You're not crying, are you?"

 

There was a pause, but then he lifted his face to reveal a sunny smile.  Kaoru found herself smiling back, then suddenly recalled her appearance.  "Oh," she gasped, self-consciously wrapping one arm around her waist and raising the other to comb distractedly through her hair.  "I look like a mess...wait, Kenshin!  Don't go out there 'til I've changed!"

 

"Don't let her!" Yahiko called out.  "She's a female, she'll take forever!"

 

"If you ask me," Megumi added conspiratorially, "it's a plot to keep you from leaving, Ken-Ô."

 

Kenshin laughed as Kaoru growled and brandished her fist at them.  "You shut up!  It'll just take a second."

 

Saitô said nothing, but was giving Kenshin a very hard, discerning look.

 

After Kaoru had hastily slipped into a more suitable robe someone handed her, and had had her hair combed and tied in a ribbon by one of her trailing, ever-prepared maids, Kenshin took her arm and stepped out with her onto the Grand Balcony, with the court fanning out behind them.

 

It seemed like half the kingdom had squeezed into the courtyard for the king's farewell speech, and they let out a great chorus of cheering when they saw the royal couple appear.  "Long live King Kenshin!  Long live Queen Kaoru!"

 

It took a while for them to quiet down, and then Kenshin stepped up to speak, briefly explaining his mission, and that the people must prepare for the return of their prince.

 

"Niisan looks just like Daddy!  Only not as old," Princess Ayame announced unexpectedly, which induced laughter in those who could hear her.

 

Kenshin smiled fondly at her.  Then a more serious look passed over him as he turned to face the fancy arch that had been set up on the Grand Balcony.  Technically, he could cross between worlds from almost anywhere, but it seemed proper somehow to make a show of it, to give the people something concrete to see.  He squeezed Kaoru's hand one last time, then let go and made his way with slow, solemn steps to the arch.  The people made no sound - all eyes were fixed on him breathlessly, expectantly.

 

"Fool," Kaoru heard Saitô mutter beside her.  "Does he think we don't know?"

 

Kaoru frowned and looked up at him.  "Don't know what?" she whispered, trying not to disturb the quiet.

 

Saitô gave her a long, appraising look.  "That husband of yours wasted fourteen years because he thought going to Faerie himself would be a breach of responsibility.  Now, suddenly, off he goes, and he thinks none of us can figure out why."

 

Kaoru stared at him.  She did not understand what Saitô meant at all, but as she looked back at Kenshin, walking purposefully towards that gateway to another world, Kaoru suddenly had the overpowering conviction that if she let Kenshin cross that line alone, she would never see him again.

 

"Kenshin!" she burst out.  Everyone looked at her in surprise, but he only raised a hand in farewell and did not turn or slow his steps.  Kaoru was startled to feel something pressed into her hand - a collection of fae-bane.  Frowning, she looked up at Saitô, who had lit a cigarette and was watching Kenshin impassively.

 

Kaoru gripped the little bag in her fist, knowing it was a challenge.  Then she dashed out from her place, hurtling across the balcony to fling her arms around her husband.

 

Kenshin, having reached the archway, was just turning in surprise.  He let out a little grunt when she crashed into him, and his arms automatically came around her as they fell.  The two of them, quite ungracefully, tumbled into Faerie together, vanishing from sight.

 

Everyone stared at the empty space where they had been.

 

"They're gone!" Ayame said unhappily.

 

"Gone," her sister echoed, then burst into tears and ran to Sôjirô.

 

There was an uneasy stirring in the crowd.

 

"Well."  Everyone looked to Saitô, who began to grin.  "Looks like _I'm_ in charge now."

 

"Just who died and made you king, Bamboo-Curtain Head?" Sanosuke said indignantly.

 

"Looks like that red-haired idiot did."

 

"He's not dead, fool!"

 

As they argued in the background, Sôjirô picked up the little girl to comfort her, and turned to Megumi.  "It looks like it's up to us for the moment, Takani-san."

 

She nodded.  "Yes."

 

"That Kaoru," Yahiko huffed.  "She sure cut it pretty close.  For a minute there, I almost thought she was gonna let Kenshin go off by himself after all."

 

"All's well that ends well," Sôjirô said brightly.  "What do you say we head down for breakfast?"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Tomoe sat listlessly on her window-seat, leaning back against the wall as she stared out at the bleak landscape.  The scene matched her thoughts - almost, but not quite, for there was still a grain of hope.

 

She had felt it earlier, she and Enishi both, when the spell had suddenly taken effect.  Enishi had been in the middle of a practice bout; he had burst into laughter and briefly forgot about his opponent, who accidentally slashed a shallow wound into his chest (after which Enishi had promptly plunged his own sword into him, then demanded that someone get the groaning, soon-to-be-corpse out of his sight).

 

That was the point at which Tomoe's paralysis had snapped.  She had thoughtlessly thrown herself straight out of Faerie, stumbling onto fresh green grass and raising her eyes to see the magician, Hiko, leaning over that prone figure.

 

Tomoe closed her eyes and slowly clenched her fist.  The feel of that cold skin...she had thought she would die in that moment.  There would have been no living with the shame of causing an innocent child's death, and of causing such grief to Kenshin and his...and his wife.

 

Perhaps if she had had no choice - but Tomoe was disgusted by her own selfishness as well.  Her lot in life was difficult, but she had never expected any better.  She should have been content to go back into the dark she knew so well, to live the rest of her life cold and alone, especially if she knew that Kenshin, at least, had found happiness at last.  But her wretched, wretched selfishness had nearly cost them everything....

 

Tomoe expelled a breath.  _Nearly._   Not quite.  For, to her astonishment, she had felt the boy's heart still beating, the very rhythm of it sending delicious tremors through her hand.  _"Oh, Kenji,"_ she had whispered.  She had seen the sakabatô lying there in the grass, and knew that that blade, imbued with what little love she had to give, had once again saved a doomed life.

 

There was an impatient knock at the door, which opened at once, before Tomoe could even draw breath to call out permission.

 

"Neesan," Enishi said eagerly.  "He's coming.  He's coming _here_."

 

Tomoe's heart went cold.  "Who is?" she asked softly.

 

Enishi laughed, his voice too loud in the silence of the room.  "Who else, Neesan?"

 

Tomoe closed her eyes.  She had thought she could trust that Seta boy, but now Kenshin was coming after all.

 

"Soon, Neesan."  Enishi came close and wrapped his arms around her.  "Soon, we'll have our revenge."

 

To her horror, Tomoe felt tears trickling down her face, and pressed her hands against her eyes to stop them.

 

"Don't cry, Sis," he begged.  "He won't escape, we'll get him for sure.  I won't let him get away with what he did to you."

 

"Enishi," she tried one more time.  "We can...let him go...we can--"

 

"Neesan," he said firmly.  "You don't need to do this.  You don't need to let him off.  I _have_ him, he won't be able to escape, no one will be able to touch you.  Okay?  I've got everything under control.  Trust me."  He sat beside her and rocked her, murmuring what words of comfort he could, until her tears dried and the true feelings of her heart were locked away once again.

 

_To be continued...._


	23. Chapter 23

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 4 - In which Kenshin fights the Oniwabanshû.**

 

_"Or why comes thou to Carterhaugh_

_Without my command?"_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

They sat there for a while, though Kaoru had no idea what 'there' looked like, because she was too busy hiding her face against Kenshin's chest.  She felt horribly embarrassed and couldn't bring herself to face him, and yet she was so glad that he was still here in her arms.

 

He sighed, and his breath ruffled her hair.

 

"Kenshin...."  She swallowed.  "Are you...mad at me?  For coming after you?"

 

His arms had been resting slack against her, but now they tightened in a hug.  "Half," he murmured, and, because her cheek was pressed against him, she could feel his voice echoing through his chest.

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Half?"  She raised her head to look at him at last, and was so relieved to see him smiling a little.

 

"The other half is...kind of relieved."

 

She smiled back, relief washing over her as well.  "I thought that you'd...disappear," she admitted.  "If I let you go."

 

He did not answer for so long that Kaoru frowned.  "Kenshin?"

 

He smiled again and got to his feet, reaching down a hand to help her up.  Kaoru took it, but then completely forgot to move.  She was staring around her at Faerie, at the bright meadow they found themselves in, and she was sitting among flowers that were so huge and beautiful, there was no mistaking them for anything found in the human realm.  Kaoru took her hand back out of Kenshin's so that she could cup it around one of the exquisite blooms, leaning her face forward to take in every perfect detail of its petals.

 

Kenshin watched the look of wonder on her face, and her name sang like a song over and over in his head.  _'Kaoru-dono, Kaoru-dono, this loves you so much....'_

 

"This is..." Kaoru breathed, and forgot to finish her sentence.  She stood up at last, turning around and around to look at the spiraled trees, the huge bright birds, the sky--  "It's green!" she burst out.  And indeed, the sky was a pretty pastel shade of green, with a bluish sun shining merrily through.

 

Kenshin grinned.  "It does that, sometimes.  Just hope that the Queen or the King don't get angry, because at such times the sky will turn brown or black and make things quite difficult to see."

 

Kaoru shook her head.  "Amazing.  I never thought...I would be here again."

 

"How do you like it?"

 

Kaoru looked straight at him and smiled.  "I love being wherever you are, Kenshin."

 

He stared at her with such a stricken look that her feelings were hurt.

 

"Sorry," she huffed.  "Guess that was a stupid thing to say."

 

He took her hands in both his own, looking strangely conflicted.  "Kaoru-dono...those words of yours warm my heart.  For this one, being with you has always felt like home, and to hear that you feel the same...."

 

"Well, then look more happy about it!" she burst out.  "You act like I insulted you."

 

He laughed.  "That you did not, Kaoru-dono."  He kissed her again, a light, leisurely kiss that sent little sunbeams of joy shooting throughout her whole body.  No one was watching this time; she was free to throw her arms around his neck and relish every taste--

 

"Geez, get a room already!"

 

They broke apart, startled, to find a three-inch fairy hovering almost right in front of their faces.

 

"Kyaa!" Kaoru shrieked in surprise, leaping backwards.

 

The fairy crossed her arms and grinned.  "Jumpy little mortal, huh?" she commented to Kenshin, who sweatdropped.

 

"Little?" Kaoru gasped, then growled, " _You're_ one to talk, you shrimpy bug!"

 

The fairy's mouth dropped open, and then she dove at Kaoru's face, feet-first.  "Monster Bird Kick of Rage!"

 

"Ack!" Kaoru yelped, ducking away.  "Kenshin, help me!"

 

Hiding a smile, he plucked the creature out of the air and held her in his palm.  "Please calm down, little one."

 

"Little again!" the fairy shouted.  "I'll show you 'little,' you red-headed girly-man!"  There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly the fairy had turned full size, gossamer wings beating back and forth in agitation.  Her glaring face looked huge in comparison, and Kaoru backed away again in alarm before she adjusted to seeing the fairy as a person rather than a little talking bug-thing.

 

"Who are you, anyway?" she demanded, trying to recover her composure.

 

"Makimachi Misao tells her name to no one!" the fairy announced proudly.

 

"Um," said Kenshin.

 

"You just did," Kaoru pointed out.

 

Misao's mouth dropped open.  "What?!  Argh!  Who are _you_ two, then?"

 

"This one is Himura Kenshin," he said quickly, "and this is Kaoru-dono."  He gave Kaoru a warning look, and she nodded to show she understood.  Names were a tricky thing around here, she would have to be careful to keep her surname at least a secret.

 

"Sword-heart," Misao mused, her eyes traveling to the blade Kenshin had once more tucked into his belt.  Then she grinned.  "Looks valuable.  I think I'll take it!"  Kenshin skipped out of reach just as she snatched for it, and her eyes widened as she stumbled.  "Hey!  Get back here!"

 

"You would not be interested in such a sword, Misao-dono, that you would not," he told her.

 

"I'll be the judge of that!" she announced, and pounced at him again.  "Himura Kenshin, stay still!" she ordered, but he only smiled and whirled away again.  "You cheater!" she shrieked.  "You've got a secret name!"

 

Kaoru watched them cavorting around the meadow, Misao looking more and more frustrated while Kenshin was nearly laughing as he eluded her.

 

 _'He's different here,'_ Kaoru thought wistfully.  _'Back home, he's so solemn...he'll play with the girls or let the rest of us tease him, but being a king weighs down on him so much.  Here, it's like he's...free.'_

 

"Got you!" Misao shouted, grabbing for the sakabatô's sheath.  Kenshin grasped the hilt at the same time, and as they tussled over it, the sword suddenly jerked free and swiped in a deep arc across Misao's chest.

 

"Misao-chan!" Kaoru gasped, and ran to them.

 

Misao stood there for a moment with a shocked look on her face.  Then the sword's sheath fell out of her hand, and she toppled backward into the flowers.

 

"Misao-chan!" Kaoru cried, throwing herself down beside the girl.  "Misao-chan!  Kenshin, help her!"  But when she looked at him, Kenshin was merely frowning.  He bent to pick up the sheath, slid his sword back into it, and replaced it at his hip.

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kaoru bellowed at him, the force of her voice nearly blowing him over.  "Misao-chan is hurt!"

 

"Is she?" Kenshin replied, as calmly as if Kaoru had announced that the tea was getting cold.

 

"YES, YOU IDIOT!"

 

Kenshin peered down at the motionless Misao, then nudged her gently with his foot.  "Misao-dono, please get up.  You are upsetting this one's wife."

 

"Do you mind?" Misao barked up at him in annoyance.  "I'm kind of dead here!"  There was a pause, and then her eyes suddenly popped open and she sat up, searching herself for a non-existent wound.  "I'm not dead!"

 

"Of course you're not," Kenshin said, as if it was obvious.  "Such a thing is impossible with a mythril sword, that it is."

 

"Mythril!"  Misao leaped up and grabbed for the sakabatô again, and this time he let her have it.

 

"Mythril?" Kaoru asked in puzzlement.

 

"A Seelie metal," Kenshin explained.  "Weapons made out of that material are fatal if they merely touch Unseelie blood, but to the Seelie, they are harmless.  Its effects on humans are no different than that of steel," he added.

 

"What the heck?" Misao was muttering, "The blade's on backwards."  Then she gasped.  "A mythril sakabatô...."  Her eyes rose disbelievingly to Kenshin.  "It can't be...you're the Seelie prince!"

 

"What of it?" Kenshin wondered.

 

Misao dropped the sword and jumped back as if it was poisonous.  "You are Hitokiri Battousai!" she accused, and Kenshin responded with a grave look before he reached down to retrieve his sword.

 

As he bent, he caught something out of the corner of his eye.  "Look out!" he shouted, and plowed into the two women without even bothering to straighten up.  The three of them tumbled to the ground, their noise covering up the faint zinging sound made by a dart as it pierced the bark of a tree on the other side of the meadow.

 

Kenshin was instantly back on his feet, the sword ready in his hand, glaring at a small, dark creature that was now emerging from the trees.

 

"Hitokiri Battousai," the goblin cackled.  "I'm sure the boss will be pleased if I kill you."

 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru gasped, at the same time Misao called out happily, "Beshimi!"

 

Kenshin held out a arm protectively before them.  "Kaoru-dono, Misao-dono, please get back."  The sakabatô flashed in his hand, and the goblin's poisoned darts pinged off it and dropped harmlessly to the ground.  The Unseelie creature growled in frustration.

 

"Watch where you're throwing those, Beshimi!" Misao said indignantly.  "You could have hit me!"

 

"Get out of the way, then," Beshimi told her.

 

Kenshin's eyes flicked between them, but he said nothing.  As soon as Misao was clear, he threw himself into a charge, his inhuman speed making the transition look instantaneous.  It came as something of a surprise when his sword came down, not on the little goblin, but on what seemed like a wall of hardened, heavily-scarred flesh.  Kenshin leaped back at once, surveying the new enemy who had stepped in the way.

 

"Shikijô!" Beshimi exclaimed.  "I had him, don't go stealing my glory!"

 

"It's Hitokiri Battousai," the troll said in a leisurely way.  "It seems to me there'll be enough of him for all four of us."

 

Kenshin's eyes widened, then darted to either side of the meadow, where two other Unseelie creatures were coming out into the light.  From the right stepped a shape-shifter, hideous in his true form, since he was not currently assuming another's appearance.  From the left crawled an enormously round dragon, his scales slithering on the grass as he approached, liquid flames dripping out of his mouth.

 

"Misao-sama," the shape-shifter said quietly.  "Are you all right?"

 

"Never better, Han'nya-kun," the fairy assured him, going up to give him a quick hug.

 

"Kenshin," Kaoru said nervously.

 

"Get out of the way, mortal," the shifter, Han'nya, said calmly.  "It's not you we're interested in."

 

"This one cannot fight all four at once and still be able to defend you," Kenshin said quietly, his eyes never wavering from his enemies.  Kaoru nodded and moved to where Misao was now perched on a low tree-branch.

 

The dragon Hyottoko struck first, but it was while Kenshin was eluding the stream of fire that Han'nya made his move.  Kenshin was ready for him, whirling at once to dodge the fist he could see coming.

 

_Wham_

 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried.

 

He recovered from the blow quickly, regaining his footing and impatiently swiping the blood away from his mouth.

 

"That's my Han'nya-kun," Misao said in satisfaction.  "I hope Battousai isn't your lover or anything, 'cause he won't last against the Oniwabanshû!"

 

"Kenshin, kick their butts!" Kaoru shouted.

 

Unfortunately, the reverse seemed to be happening.  Kenshin seemed to be able to elude the other three easily enough, but when it came to Han'nya, every blow struck almost on the mark.  Even Misao winced when Han'nya's fist came crashing down on Kenshin's head; Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief a moment later, when she saw that Kenshin had managed to dodge again.

 

"He's like a little squirrel," Beshimi giggled, "scrambling here and there to get away from the dogs.  Let's all come at him together!"

 

"Wait, Beshimi," Han'nya called, but the goblin had already unleashed a shower of darts.  Kenshin leaped clear, only to see Hyottoko turning on the girls.

 

"Move, Misao," the dragon rumbled, and opened his mouth.

 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru screamed.  She tried to run, but her eyes seemed glued to the back of that throat, glowing as if with coals.  She slipped in the grass and stumbled to one knee.  The dragon expelled a fiery breath; Kaoru threw her hands up, then realized that she only heard the roaring in her ears, none of the flames had touched her.  She looked up and gasped to find Kenshin standing before her, whirling his sword fast enough to create a shield against the flames.

_'Now, Beshimi!'_ the dragon thought, _'while he's occupied!'_

 

The goblin flung out a handful of darts, but Kenshin suddenly toppled backward, knocking Kaoru clear and letting the darts fly right over them and into the troll on his other side.

 

"Shikijô!" Beshimi cried, horrified.

 

Han'nya half-morphed into a wolf's shape, bringing huge claws down on Kenshin's head.  Kenshin, having thrust out his sword straight in front of him to test a theory, now twirled away at the last second, finally able to dodge the attack.  "Lengthening your arms as you charge," he muttered.  "Nice move, but not good enough."  This time when the attack came, Kenshin let his blade be caught in the middle of those claws and twisted sharply, breaking Han'nya's wrist and snapping off one of the claws.

 

"Han'nya!" the goblin was shouting frantically.  "It's Shikijô!"

 

The shape-shifter backed away warily until he was standing near his comrades.

 

"He'll die if he doesn't get the antidote soon," Beshimi said urgently.  "Han'nya, you're the fastest of us!"

 

The shifter nodded and swiftly disappeared into the trees.

 

"This is for Shikijô," Hyottoko snarled, and unleashed another wave of fire.  Kenshin pushed Kaoru out of the way and charged at the dragon, so low to the ground that one wrong move would have sent him sprawling.  He struck first with his elbow and then with the hilt of the sword in his other hand, deep blows to the dragon's belly and throat.  Hyottoko reeled back, fighting for breath with such an agonized sound that Kaoru pressed her hands over her ears.

 

"Enough."

 

All eyes went to the speaker, who came slowly out into the open.  Cold, pitiless eyes reflected no light; his handsome face, pointed ears, and midnight-black hair marked him as a dark elf.

 

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao cried happily.  She flicked back into her tiny form and flitted over to his shoulder.  "Han'nya-kun and the others are having a little trouble," she told him indignantly.  "This guy's like a monster, Aoshi-sama!"

 

Aoshi, his eyes never leaving Battousai, reached up to his shoulder.  Cupping the fairy in one hand, he cast her gently away from him, where she hovered, her little wings humming as she watched anxiously.

 

"Battousai," Aoshi murmured, and slowly drew his weapon.  "Prepare yourself."

 

"This one would like to avoid a fight if he could," Kenshin told him.

 

"The name of the Oniwabanshû will not be blemished by defeat," the dark elf responded, his voice devoid of emotion.  Then his eyes slid to Kaoru.  "Perhaps you would like to say good-bye to your woman first."

 

"Kenshin's not the one who'll be saying his good-byes!" Kaoru said hotly.

 

Then she noticed Kenshin giving her a worried look.  He sheathed his sword and came over to her, taking her into his arms.  "Too many close calls already," he murmured; then, because their faces were so close, he couldn't help stealing a little kiss, but there wasn't time to indulge.

 

Before Kaoru even had a chance to respond, he had leaped, and she gave a little shriek of surprise as she clung to him.  " _Warn_ me next time!" she insisted, when she found the two of them perched high in the branches of a tree.

 

"Sorry, Kaoru-dono."  He patted the wood next to him.  "Rowan.  It is said to be a good ward...this one is not sure how effective it will be against them, but you will be safer here than on the ground.  Please stay here, Kaoru-dono."

 

"Beat him up for me," she said softly, and kissed him, hoping it would not be the last time.

 

"Are you finished?" Aoshi called up, his voice cold.

 

Kenshin looked down at him, matching that icy gaze with his own.  Then, almost quicker than Kaoru's eye could follow, he had dived, his sword rushing for Aoshi's throat.  The blow was parried, and then they were off again, zipping around the meadow so quickly that they appeared at first to be translocating.

 

Kaoru found the fairy perched on her shoulder.  "What are you doing here?" she said indignantly.  "You're the enemy!"

 

Misao swung her feet carelessly.  "It's a good view up here.  And I want to know more about that Battousai.  I never figured a monster like him would have a soft spot like you."

 

"He's not a monster," Kaoru said hotly.  "He's sweet and gentle and kind, and I love him more than anyone in the world!"

 

"Battousai?" Misao said in disbelief.  "Sweet, gentle, kind?  You're kidding."

 

"I'm not," Kaoru said softly.  "You don't know him.  You didn't seem him when...he was still being forced to kill people.  Every death left another scar on his heart; by the time I met him, his eyes - it was like he'd become two different people...the man I fell in love with, hidden behind the cold warrior he had become in self-defense."

 

"Wow," Misao breathed.  "He sounds like...Aoshi-sama."  Then her face reddened.  "But not skill-wise!  No way!  Aoshi-sama's never lost to anyone, he became leader of the Oniwabanshû when he was fifteen!  He won't lose!"

 

"Then Kenshin would die," Kaoru said fiercely.  "But if Kenshin wins - and he will - Aoshi will live.  Kenshin vowed, when he was set free, that he would never take life again."

 

" _Hitokiri Battousai_ said that?"

 

"Why do you keep acting so shocked?  I just told you what Kenshin's really like!"

 

"Well, excuse me for having a hard time believing that an assassin would turn out to be a wimpy pacifist!"

 

As they argued, Kenshin was beginning to notice, with some exasperation, that their battle was drawing an audience.  At first, it was just unaffiliated wild fae, gathering curiously to watch, but then word must have spread, for here were the faster runners of both courts.  When he had landed from delivering another blow and was able to look around again, he could see the queen's handmaids cheering him from one side, as Titania herself watched impassively.  Kenshin's eyes darted to the other side of the meadow, where a growing crowd of dark fae were jeering.  Enishi's white hair glinted near the center as he watched with a smirk, and next to him--

 

"Tomoe," Kenshin whispered before he could stop himself, and then cried out when the lapse of attention cost him more blood.  Aoshi's admantine kodachi could not kill him by simple contact, since Kenshin was over half human, but his Seelie blood burned at the touch of that dark metal.  Aoshi himself was injured, but showed much less blood, since the mythril sakabatô could not pierce flesh.

 

Up in the rowan tree, Kaoru glanced down and gasped in surprise.  "Where'd all these people come from?"

 

Misao shrugged.  "The king and queen always know when their champions are fighting."

 

Kaoru frowned.  "What'll happen when one of them loses?"

 

"I dunno.  Different things.  Obviously if one of the combatants dies, that's pretty much the end of it.  Sometimes the loser will enter into servitude, sometimes he's banished, sometimes he just has to throw a party for everyone...depends on a whim, really."

 

"I am reeeaaally hoping this is the party outcome," Kaoru said nervously, looking at Enishi's crazed eyes.  Then she suddenly sat straight up, staring.  "Whoa!  What is _that_?!"

 

"Sword-dance!" Misao laughed.  "Got to hand it to you, Kaoru-san...your Battousai must be something else, if Aoshi-sama has to use one of his secrets on him."

 

Below, Kenshin was ringed by a strange illusion as Aoshi glided around him, combining slow and fast movements so that the former assassin could not determine if what he saw was Aoshi himself or simply an after-image.

 

"Left, left, Ken-chan!" the maids were shouting excitedly.  "He's on the left!"

 

"He's on the right, idiots," an elf warrior contradicted them.

 

"You're all blind, he's coming in from behind," another Seelie soldier cut in.

 

Kenshin was quite practiced at tuning them out, so he did so, focusing as much of his attention as he could spare on Aoshi.  (Not _quite_ all of his attention...there was no telling when unscrupulous Unseelie might launch themselves at him while he was preoccupied with the fight.)  It was impossible to tell...and yet, this 'sword-dance' had a weakness--

 

"There!" Kenshin shouted, just as Aoshi struck; then Kenshin was sent flying, plowing to the ground almost at Titania's feet.  He didn't get up.

 

"Ken-chan!" the handmaids cried, running to him.  They dipped their fingers in his blood and inspected their wet hands curiously, as Titania made a face and swept her skirts out of the way.

 

The Unseelie were roaring with delight, cheering Aoshi and screaming abuse at the Seelie court across from them.

 

"K-Ken..." Kaoru choked out in a whisper.  Then, _"Kenshin!"_

 

"There's his wench!" someone pointed out excitedly, and then all eyes were on her.  Almost none of them were friendly.

 

"He picked _that_ to share his bed with?" someone said in disbelief.

 

"She's just an ugly human!"

 

"That boy has always had bad taste...."

 

"Passing up Her Majesty for a mere mortal!"

 

The Unseelie comments were far less polite.

 

Kaoru's face went redder and redder as they went on, and there might have been a veritable explosion at that point if Enishi's voice hadn't come ringing out, cutting through the noise.  "Kill her, Aoshi."

 

A sudden hush descended, and Kaoru's heart began to pound.

 

"I have no interest in slaying the woman," Aoshi said flatly.

 

"Kill her, Aoshi!" Enishi screamed.  "Her life for Shikijô's!"

 

The troll still lay where he had fallen, his breathing shallow and irregular, as his comrades crouched around him.  Han'nya had returned, but the antidote he had just handed to Beshimi was suddenly in Enishi's fist.

 

"Do it," the Faerie King commanded, his voice now calm.

 

Aoshi was silent for a moment.  Then he raised his head and took a step toward Kaoru.

 

"Kenshin!" she cried desperately.  " _Kenshin_!"

 

At the sound of her panicked voice, he began to stir at last, but too slowly.  Aoshi was approaching, had poised to strike, and Kenshin had only just climbed to his feet and was staggering toward them.

 

"Aoshi," he snarled, blood streaming from his slashed chest, "your quarrel is with this one."

 

"No longer," Aoshi murmured, and struck.

 

"AOSHI!" Kenshin screamed, but it was too late.

 

Kaoru didn't even see Aoshi coming; her reaction was pure instinct.  Her arms shot over her head, crossing just in time to catch the hilt of coming blade on the back of her hands.  There was an instant where her white face was staring into Aoshi's shocked expression.  Then she thrust forward, turning Aoshi's own attack against him, sending him toppling back out of the tree - and following right after him.

 

"Kenshin!" she screamed again, but the name hadn't even finished leaving her mouth when she realized that, unlike Aoshi, who'd had to execute a quick landing to keep his dignity, she was actually...floating.  Astonished, she drifted gently down just in time for Kenshin to reach up his arms and catch her.  There was a half-mocking chorus of "Awwww"s from the Seelie court, and "Booo"s from the Unseelie.

 

"Forget this," Titania said coldly.  "Duels are meaningless when the audience interferes."

 

"I agree," Enishi said scornfully, his eyes burning as he surveyed the Seelie court, obviously thinking that the interference had come from there.

 

Kenshin was not able to stop himself from looking to Tomoe, who surely had rescued Kaoru from injury or death.  Fortunately, he had enough of his wits left to let his eyes pass right over her, scanning down the whole crowd of dark fae.  It would be dangerous to draw attention to her.

 

"A draw, then?" Titania was saying.

 

"Keep dreaming!  Aoshi had him whipped and you know it!" Enishi shouted, backed up by his people.

 

"Then how do you explain this?" Titania pointed out, kicking aside the shattered pieces of Kenshin's sheath, which he had used to deflect Aoshi's attack.

 

"Next time, we'll decide for sure," Enishi growled.  He took no notice when Aoshi wordlessly claimed the antidote and handed it to Beshimi.

 

By that time, Kenshin had his arm around Kaoru and was leading her to the crowd around his grandmother, who were calling to him excitedly and giving Kaoru dubious looks.  "Kenshin," she whispered urgently, who are these people?"

 

"The Seelie court," he murmured back.

 

"I-Is that the _Faerie Queen_?" she hissed urgently.

 

He smiled a little.  "Yes, Kaoru-dono.  Don't worry...but please be careful."

 

"Oh yes, that's _so_ reassuring!"

 

Kaoru was so nervously focused on the fae before her that she did not notice Kenshin glance over his shoulder, his face hard, and say soundlessly to the Faerie King, _"Later."_

 

Enishi grinned and waved, then turned to leave.  Tomoe wore no expression as she followed him.

 

The handmaids ran forward first, fawning around Kenshin and crying reproachfully, "Ken-chan!  You cut off all your beautiful hair!  How could you?"

 

"Ha ha...this one is sorry you don't like it, that he is," he chuckled.

 

"It doesn't get in his way anymore," Kaoru said forcefully.  She had been watching the handmaids, with their flawless looks and silly mannerisms and the bright flowers each wore in her hair, and decided that the extent of their physical affection for her husband _really_ annoyed her.  " _I_ like it short, I think it suits him."

 

"But he's not pretty anymore," they whined.

 

"My grandson is still good-looking enough," Titania said critically, studying him.  "Except for that blasted cross - I thought you'd taken care of that, Kenshin."

 

Kenshin, whose birthmark had been glaring crimson since Kenji's return, answered softly, "This one has no control over such a thing, Grandmother."  He bowed his head only slightly, since he was now equal to her in rank, then tugged Kaoru gently forward.  "Perhaps you are already familiar with this one's wife."

 

"Never seen her before," Titania lied carelessly.  "What's your name, dear?"

 

"Kaoru," she answered shortly, not needing the silent warning Kenshin gave her as he squeezed her hand.

 

Titania raised an eyebrow.  "Surely a princess would have a longer name than that?"

 

"Nope.  Just Kaoru."

 

The queen frowned in displeasure.  "Very well.  I can't say I'm honored to meet a mortal, especially such a plain-looking one who nevertheless managed to seduce my grandson...but we won't kill you at least.  Come.  We return to court."

 

Kaoru looked like she wanted to say something very unwise in response, but Kenshin quickly kissed her again, probably to shut her up, though you would never have thought it from the loving smile on his face afterwards.  Then they walked along hand in hand, with Kenshin seeming to drink in everything as the men conversed animatedly with him about skirmishes and fantastic sightings, and the women gossiped and giggled and unsuccessfully attempted to feel him up.

 

Kaoru couldn't help feeling a little left out, even though Kenshin was right next to her and had not once let go of her since she had fallen out of the rowan tree.  It just seemed...like she was such an outsider here, and on top of that, Kenshin seemed to _belong_ among these creatures in a way she never could.

 

But then Kenshin looked over at her again and smiled that sweet smile of his, and all her discontent vanished like smoke.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  I got the term "mythril" from the Final Fantasy games, and I'm sure _they_ got it from the mithril in _The Lord of the Rings_.

 

"Translocation" is the fantasy equivalent of teleportation.  Diana Wynne Jones uses the term, though I'm not certain if she's the one who coined it.


	24. Chapter 24

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 5 - In which Kenshin and Kaoru are welcomed to the Seelie court.**

_"Four and twenty ladies fair_

_Were playing at the ball,_

_And out then came the fair Janet,_

_The flower among them all."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

"It's beautiful!" Kaoru exclaimed when they entered the Seelie court.

 

"It is," Kenshin echoed in surprise.  The glamour wasn't usually _this_ thick...it was making him itchy.

 

Kaoru let go of his hand so she could get a closer look at the huge tapestry on the wall depicting Kenshin as a muscled, death-glaring warrior in the process of hacking the head off a truly hideous creature.  "Who did _this_?" she asked, with rather mixed feelings.

 

Kenshin came up next to her, studied the tapestry thoughtfully, then laid his hand on it.  At once, something soft and glittery came raining down on them; Kaoru coughed, wiped it off her face and hair, then glanced up again to see that the tapestry was now an old, ratty one bearing the faded image of Don Quixote.

 

"Ken-chaaaaan!" the handmaids whined, swarming around him again.  "All our hard work for nothing!"

 

"Such an enchantment would have taken less than five minutes to weave, that it would," he said placidly.

 

"Kenshin," his grandmother said in exasperation, " _must_ you dissolve every glamour you touch?  It's a bad habit of yours, especially when you're in _my_ court."

 

"Apologies, Grandmother," he said cheerfully, taking Kaoru's hand again.  She grinned over at him and squeezed his fingers.

 

"So, love," Titania said as she settled herself comfortably on her throne.  The handmaids came to drape themselves over her or lean against her chair or lazily coil locks of her hair around their fingers.  "What brings you here this time?"

 

"It is...Kaoru-dono," he admitted.  Kaoru glanced at him in surprise.  "This one meant to set out directly to lift the spell on Kenji, but...."  _But there were farewells to say first._   "But having Kaoru-dono along was...unexpected.  She will need somewhere to stay, and she must return home safely...if we happen to get separated."

 

The fae were giggling for some reason, and Titania was surveying her grandson with an unreadable look.  "I see."

 

"Wait a minute, Kenshin," Kaoru whispered to him.  "You mean you're not taking me along?  You're leaving me _here_?"

 

"Well," he said carefully.  "This one's plans...did not involve you, Kaoru-dono.  Your presence is appreciated...."  He suddenly shook his head.  "It is a comfort, more than you know.  But please trust this one when he says it will be much better for you to remain in safety until Kenji is freed."

 

Kaoru's eyes narrowed.  "Kenshin, I don't like this.  Why can't I come?  I don't even know what your plan _is_!  Why can't you at least tell me that much?"

 

He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.  "Erm...it's not really difficult...this one simply has to fulfill an...obligation, and Kenji will awaken."

 

Before Kaoru could ask the obvious, she was interrupted when Titania clapped her hands briskly.  "Enough business talk.  My grandson has come to visit, and we have made preparations to welcome him.  Please enjoy yourself, Kenshin."

 

The fae burst into cheers, mostly since they now had permission to get drunk.  The surfaces of the long tables around the room suddenly rippled with magic, revealing a sumptuous feast that outshone even special occasions at Himura Castle.  Whole roasts curled up on huge platters, garnished with exotic salads and strange, beautiful-looking fruits; baked goods of every kind sent their savory odors wafting into the air, breads and pastries and crackers alongside cheeses that ran the range of color.  The list went on - everywhere Kaoru looked, her eyes fell on something that made her mouth water.

 

"Kenshin!" she squeaked excitedly.  "Kenshin!  Beef hot-pot!"  She tried to tug him over to it, but he resisted.  "Kenshin, come _on_!"

 

"Kaoru-dono," he said gravely, "this food is not for you."  The next second, he was moaning on the floor.  "Ororo...."

 

"She hit Ken-chan!" the handmaids shrieked, and ran to cradle him in their arms and tenderly lament over his injury.

 

"What a violent woman," Titania sniffed, and took a bite of meat, clearly relishing it.  "You've always had bad taste, Kenshin."

 

Kaoru, standing over the downed warrior with blazing eyes, demanded of him, "What is your problem?!  Acting all high and mighty just 'cause I'm _human_!"

 

"Oro, Kaoru-dono, that's not it," he laughed weakly, sitting up.  "Surely you know about fey food?"

 

Kaoru suddenly deflated.  "Oh."  She cast a longing glance at the tables, which were now messy from the enthusiasm of the diners, though quite a lot of delicious-looking food still remained.  "Are you serious?  I can't eat _any_ of it?"

 

It took him a couple of tries to get up, since at least two handmaids were attempting to pull him into their laps.  "Unfortunately not, Kaoru-dono.  Unless you wouldn't mind staying here forever."

 

Kaoru shuddered and stepped closer to him.  "No...no, that's all right."  Still, she could not keep her eyes off the food.  It seemed to be _calling_ her, _begging_ her to come eat, promising to be the best meal of her _life_.  Kenshin, noticing the look on her face, found a place to sit and firmly planted her in his lap, facing away from the tables.

 

"It's not even real, anyway," he said soothingly.  "Most of it is dust, or rotted, or...well, let's not get into that."

 

"Can _you_ eat it?" she asked, twisting to stare longingly over his shoulder.

 

"Only a little.  Too much and this one would be affected just like any other human."  His fingers were idly caressing her throat, her lips; his other hand crept down to her leg, so that suddenly she forgot entirely about food.

 

"Are we spending the night here?" she asked in a whisper.

 

"Mm...yes..." he murmured, laying a soft kiss on the side of her neck.  Then another, a little lower.

 

"Ken-chan!"

 

Kaoru tumbled out of his lap in surprise.

 

"Oro...what is it?"  He seemed to be draped in handmaids again.

 

"You're ignoring us!" they whined.

 

"You're so meeeaan!"

 

They tried to kiss his neck and hands, but he stood and managed to gracefully detach himself.  "How rude of this one, to keep to himself during a feast laid in his honor."  He smiled and reached to help Kaoru up.  "Come, let's mingle."

 

Time seemed to be odd in this place.  Kaoru could have sworn they had only been walking around talking to people for only a few minutes, but the next time she glanced out the windows, twilight had fallen.  "Kenshin!" she exclaimed, whirling back to him and having to shout over the noise, "It's nighttime!"

 

"Yes," he answered, giving her a strange look as he sipped at one of the drinks people kept pushing into their hands.

 

"Guess time really does fly when you're having fun," Kaoru muttered distractedly, looking out at the center of the room where beautiful lithe figures were weaving enthusiastic patterns to the music.  "Kenshin!  Let's go dance!"

 

"Again?" he exclaimed.

 

"What do you mean 'again'?  We haven't yet!"

 

He pulled her close and studied her, and she grinned and took the opportunity to kiss him.  He yelped at the sudden action, and she giggled.  "Oh, yeah, I guess we did...."  Memories were oozing sluggishly back to her now, memories of whirling with Kenshin among the dancers; now that she thought about it, she _was_ a little out of breath.  "We've been here for a week, haven't we!" she suddenly gasped.  It seemed like she remembered seeing the moon outside the windows, but now that she looked, it was not yet deep night.

 

"No," he said in confusion.  "At least, this one hopes not...."

 

Kaoru put down the goblet she had not remembered picking up and seized his hands, dragging him back into the dancing.  She felt giddy and excited, her head light, a strange uneasy nagging at the back of her mind that she was having too much fun to listen to.  She forgot about it again as she and Kenshin stepped and twirled in each other's arms; she noticed suddenly that a laughing ring had formed around them, and she stumbled.  A chorus of jeering cheers went up at her clumsiness, but Kenshin bent her back and kissed her theatrically, which earned them a round of applause.

 

"They're watching," Kaoru giggled, her face red.

 

"Someone else's turn," Kenshin called out to the crowd.  "Rerugo, see what you can do with Mitsuko-dono, eh?"  There was a burst of laughter, and a grinning sprite seized one of the handmaids and pulled her into the center of the dancing ring.

 

Kaoru was glad of Kenshin's steady arm as he led her to the side, and they rested for a while, sipping at new drinks as they watched the renewed dancing.  Then Kaoru suddenly froze.  "Kenshin!" she cried out in horror, "I'm drinking--!"

 

"It's only milk," he assured her.

 

She looked down in confusion at her cup, which was filled with cloudy white liquid.  For some reason, she thought she had been drinking fairy wine.  "This one made them bring real food and drink for you," he assured her.

 

She frowned.  "When?"

 

He frowned as well and looked out the window, which showed the sky as the same color - except the constellations were wrong, as if the night had rushed from twilight to dawn without remembering midnight in between.  "It can't be morning already!" he gasped.  He moved hurriedly to the window and placed his hand against it.  Something like soot fell quietly from the glass, and the sky outside instantly turned black, as if time had suddenly jumped backward.  He let out a long breath.  "So much illusion," he murmured.  "It _has_ only been the one night, hasn't it?"

 

"Ken-kun!"  Seelie men, lithe and strong, with bright fair hair and faces as beautiful as those of the women, suddenly surrounded them, laughing.  "Don't be so preoccupied, you're at a party!"  They dragged him away, and even before Kaoru could protest, she found herself the center of attention in a group of chattering fey women.

 

"She _could_ be adorable," one of them was giggling, taking up a lock of her hair.  "Glamour her up a bit and Ken-chan would be falling over himself trying to get to her...."

 

"He does that, anyway," another pointed out, and they burst into high-pitched, somehow unpleasant peals of laughter.

 

"Excuse me," Kaoru said urgently, trying to pull away, but they protested so prettily that she forgot about her uneasiness among them.  They plied her with more drinks which she barely sipped, and began regaling her with stories and gossip that sounded more like fairy tales than like things that could have actually happened.  _'Though I suppose,'_ Kaoru thought wryly, _'that here in Faerie, such stories are one and the same.'_

 

Eventually, it got to be too much for her.  Kaoru pushed her way out of the group of women and paused to let out a deep breath.  Shaking her head, she looked around for her husband and was startled by a burst of heavy masculine laughter.  Kenshin was with the group of Seelie soldiers across the room, who seemed to be eagerly engaged in boasting and telling stories as they brandished various mythril weapons.

 

"...But I bet Ken-kun could have taken care of it in two blows, eh?"

 

"One," Kenshin laughed, then added sheepishly, "maybe."  There was a roar of laughter at this clumsy attempt at modesty, and Kaoru noticed that Kenshin had yet another drink in his hand, which he had not been treating as cautiously as Kaoru had hers.

 

"Well," one of the men said slyly, "that's only to be expected of our Battousai, after all.  I bet he could take on the whole lot of us single-handed."

 

"No need to prove it," Kenshin mumbled, gulping more of his drink in embarrassment.

 

"No, really!  Let's have a little fun!  Show us some cool moves, Kenshin!"

 

Kenshin suddenly looked at the cup in his hand as if seeing it for the first time.  "No," he said slowly.  "No, this one...is getting a bit tired now, that he is."

 

There was a jeering howl of protest.  "Don't run off now, Ken-kun!"

 

"Good night," Kenshin said firmly, setting down the cup on a nearby table.

 

"No!" they shouted excitedly as he turned away.  "Get him!"  It took a minute of nervous giggling for any of them to actually attempt an attack, but, cheered on by the other fae whose attention had been caught by the exchange, one soldier charged forward with a shout.  Grinning a little, Kenshin spun to meet him; mythril clashed on mythril and they leaped back again.  After a moment of wary circling, the man burst into another charge.  Kenshin swiped his blade straight through the man's chest even as he avoided the coming blow.

 

"You're dead," he pointed out.  As the man subsided with a cry of good-natured frustration, the other soldiers descended on Kenshin in a shouting mass.

 

Kaoru gasped and took an unthinking step forward, but then one of the handmaids wrapped her arms around Kaoru and pulled her back.  "Just watch," the girl said breathlessly.  "This'll be a good show!"

 

"A _show_?" Kaoru repeated indignantly, but there was nothing she could do - it would be crazy to venture into the midst of those flashing swords.

 

Kenshin was breathtaking to watch, the way he gracefully eluded them, even when they cheated; the swift artistry of his blows, the incredible dance of his footwork - Kaoru suddenly realized that it _was_ a sort of performance.

 

"Get them all, Kenshin!" Titania shouted excitedly, on her feet; the hall echoed deafeningly with cheers.  "Cut them to pieces!"

 

"My, how bloodthirsty," Kenshin laughed.  Someone put another cup into his hand, and he drained it.  "I'm afraid--  This one is afraid that obeying such a request is quite impossible with this sword."

 

"It's working," someone near Kaoru whispered excitedly.

 

"What's working?" Kaoru demanded.  Kenshin's lapse in pronouns had alarmed her.

 

"Didn't you hear him?  He said 'ore'!"

 

Kenshin was fighting again, eliminating opponents with each stroke.  One of the losers tried to sneak back into battle at one point; Kenshin deftly flipped the sakabatô to deal the man a painful blow with the hilt, then resumed his usual grip without missing a beat.  No one else attempted the same thing again.  "He fights even better when he's drunk!" someone murmured admiringly.  Then, in a shout, "Ken-kun!  _Sugoi_!"

 

"Drunk?" Kaoru said in alarm.  Even as she spoke, someone struck such a hard blow that Kenshin was forced back into a table even though he blocked it.  Without looking, he seized a jug and drank straight from it, then slammed it back down so hard that sparkling liquid came slopping out over his hand.

 

"Who's next?" he demanded of the handful of soldiers who remained, eyes glowing yellow.  They fell back, laughing nervously, until Kenshin seemed to almost disappear with the speed of his attack.  Two of the remaining opponents were struck out instantly; two more only had time to instinctively raise their swords before they were disqualified.

 

The last found the point of the sakabatô resting gently against his skin.  For a moment, they stared at each other - then Kenshin's eyes flickered slowly back to blue.  He grinned and politely pushed the sakabatô straight through the man's throat.  "I win," he announced cheerfully.  Then he frowned, looking troubled, but his lips had only just started forming the word _sessha_ when he was glomped by a crowd of admiring Seelie fae.  The women flirted mercilessly, the uninvolved men were impressed and teasing; even the beaten soldiers grudgingly acknowledged, "You're the best, Ken-kun."

 

Kaoru shoved her way to Kenshin's side.  "Kenshin, are you all right?"

 

He smiled widely when he saw her, sheathed his sword, and wrapped his arms around her.  "Let's go find a room and make passionate love," he breathed hotly in her ear.

 

She wrinkled her nose - he never talked like that.  "Your breath smells too good," she told him unhappily.  Whatever he had been drinking couldn't be alcohol.

 

It took some time to extricate themselves from the crowd, and when they did, Kenshin went very quiet.  He leaned heavily on Kaoru as they made their way down the hallways, though he still seemed to be walking fairly straight.

 

"Kenshin," Kaoru asked again, "are you all right?"  His weight on her began to drag as his steps went slower and slower, until she was forced to a halt.

 

"Kaoru...dono..." he murmured unevenly, the correct enunciation costing him obvious effort.  "This one does not...feel so good, that he doesn't."

 

Kaoru's eyes widened, but at that moment, Kenshin's knees finally buckled and they sank to the floor, where he threw up.  Kaoru's gut reaction was to shriek in disgust and push him away, but she was caught short by the sight of the actual substance on her clothes.  It was glittering with the exact color of a rainbow, and smelled pleasantly of fresh fruit.  "Kenshin," she said faintly, " _what_ were you drinking?"

 

"Fairy wine," he giggled.  "Had too much...."

 

"Obviously!"  She was not feeling so great herself.  She got his arm back across her shoulders and heaved until they were back on their feet.  "Probably not the best idea to be fighting on a stomach full of that stuff, either," she grumbled.  Noticing an open doorway, she glanced in to find an empty bedroom, which startled her when the walls suddenly began to glow.

 

"Guest room," Kenshin mumbled.  "Wanna sleep here...."

 

"They won't mind?" she asked doubtfully, but he only giggled.  She pulled him inside, where she finally let him go and climbed onto the bed.  It was a luxurious one, but she took no notice as she sat with her arms crossed and watched him, frowning.  He dragged himself after her and flopped down contentedly at her side.  She raised her eyebrow skeptically.  "Is this the part where we make passionate love?"

 

He gave her a confused look.  "Yes?"

 

She rolled her eyes.  "Well, let's go then," she challenged, though she couldn't have been further out of the mood.

 

"...Okay," he agreed faintly.  Then he put his head down, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

 

Kaoru shook her head.  "Baka...."  She suddenly frowned and leaned over him, gasping when she noticed the blood on his clothes.  He had been injured in the battle - just small cuts here and there, but it suddenly occurred to Kaoru that, while his mythril sword had absolutely no effect on his Seelie opponents, their own weapons had the ability to harm him somewhat, since he was not pure-blooded.  It _had_ only been a game, right?

 

Kaoru finally sighed, then snuggled close to him and lay awake for a long time.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru woke up abruptly to a thumping noise - she shot upright to find Kenshin on his knees in the middle of the floor, holding his head.  The half-sheathed sakabatô lay fallen beside him.  "Kenshin?" she said anxiously, "Are you all right?"

 

"Please whisper," he mumbled piteously.

 

Kaoru grinned a little, though she was far from amused.  "Hangover, huh?"

 

His only response was a groan.  Keeping one hand pressed to his head, he carefully reached out the other for the sword, awkwardly re-sheathing it as had probably been the original intention.  "It's been...too long...this one forgot...how much stronger...such wine is...."

 

Kaoru climbed out of bed and helped him to his feet, but when she attempted to lead him back to the bed, he resisted her.  "Kenji," he said stubbornly.

 

"Don't be an idiot," she told him in exasperation.  "You're in no shape at the moment to face Enishi and the Unseelie."

 

He winced, pressing the hand even harder to his head.  "Please whisper," he pleaded again.

 

"Not unless you lie down," she bellowed in his ear; he crumpled onto the mattress, moaning.

 

"This head is _splitting_...."

 

Kaoru sat down next to him and massaged his temples, so that soon his hands dropped and he lay silent.  After a long while, he said insistently, as if continuing a conversation, "This one must go after Kenji."

 

"Yes," she agreed.  "Later today, when you've recovered."

 

He gently pushed her hands away and, slowly, sat up.  "This one _is_ recovered."

 

"You look like you got dragged through a flower masher."

 

He looked down at his rumpled, stained clothes.  "Doesn't matter," he mumbled.

 

She reached to comb the tangles out of his hair with her fingers.  The red strands were like silk, parting instantly at her touch.  _'Stupid fairy hair.  I wish_ mine _would do that.'_

 

He sat there, taking in the feel of her hands, savoring it as he had not done in a long while.  _'You're a fool,'_ he told himself.  _'You started taking her for granted.  Fool, fool....'_   He suddenly turned and kissed her slowly.  Due to the previous evening, it was not a very pleasant kiss for either of them, but it was almost frighteningly intimate as they absorbed and pondered over each sour taste.  It was not the kiss of fresh young lovers, or excited newlyweds, or blissful matrimony.  Alongside the deep steady love, they tasted fear, and anxiety, and secrets.

 

Kaoru whispered.  "Kenshin...."

 

He turned his face away, knowing what she wanted to ask.

 

She laid her head on his shoulder.  "What is it you're planning?"  Her words seemed to come from within him, pulsing against his flesh, vibrating in his throat.  "Why can't I come?"

 

He hesitantly brought up an arm to put around her.  Suddenly unsatisfied, he wrapped both arms around her and held her tight.  "There is an enchantment that needs to be broken.  It _must_ be broken.  Please understand, Kaoru-dono."

 

"You won't tell me.  You don't trust me."  The words were quiet, but he felt how tense her body was.

 

"Kaoru-dono, you will know.  When the spell has been broken, you will know everything."

 

She turned her face up to him.  "Do you promise?" she growled.  "You promise to tell me?"

 

He suddenly smiled, brilliantly, heart-breakingly.  "It is a promise."

 

She sighed and leaned her head back against him.  He felt her relax again.  "All right.  I trust you, Kenshin."

 

The baths in this place were luxurious, though disconcerting.  Kaoru was not used to other bathers giggling as they looked at her, or having to watch flawless bodies being flaunted around her.  She crouched low in the water, scrubbing at herself sullenly and vowing never to bathe here again, at least when there were others around.

 

Kenshin looked much better as well when they met up again.  Now that he was cleaned up, however, he looked very unhappy.  "It was only one night," he said slowly as she took his hands.  "This one is pretty sure...it was only one night."

 

"Can they alter time here?" Kaoru asked cautiously.

 

He frowned.  "To make it run backwards, only the king and queen have the power to do; but to draw it out or make it pass swifter than it should?  That is one of their favorite arts.  This one tried to keep an eye on the time passing, but...it became slightly...difficult, near the end."

 

"No more fairy wine for you."

 

He kissed her cheek softly.  "Agreed.  Forgive me, Kaoru-dono."

 

"Are we going after Kenji now?"

 

"You are not," he reminded her.

 

"Kenshin," she growled.

 

He sighed.  "Grandmother has agreed to send you back home with an escort, on the condition we spend one more night here.  Doubtless she will try to seize more time, but it will not be allowed.  Kaoru-dono," he said gravely, "this one will set out when he is sure you are safe."

 

"I'll be safe with you," she said confidently.

 

He smiled a little.  "Gratifying as that is to hear, it is not entirely true.  The only interest the fae have in you is because of your connection to this one...which means you will be in danger, from both Seelie and Unseelie, until you are back home again, Kaoru-dono."

 

"Can't I help, even a little?  I'm not totally _useless_ , am I?"  She had meant to tease, to put a playful whine in her voice, but was surprised at the tears that came to her eyes instead.  "Kenshin...."

 

He hesitated a moment, looking into her face with a conflicted expression.  Then he said softly, "The price for Kenji's awakening...is not something you can pay, Kaoru-dono."

 

"I would do anything--!"

 

"Spells," he said quickly, "often have conditions."  Then he smiled a little and affectionately brushed her bangs away from her face.  "For one thing, your hair is black."

 

Kaoru blinked.  "What...you're saying...it has to be a _redhead_ who can save Kenji?!"

 

He shrugged.  "This one did not come up with the conditions."

 

"But that's so stupid!  Argh!"

 

He smiled at her comical frustration, and was glad that she forgot to ask about the other requirements.

         

o.o.o.o.o

 

The party never seemed to truly end - it trudged on through the day and then picked up its noise and pace as night fell once again.  Kaoru, having taken a nap earlier at Kenshin's suggestion, emerged into the main hall to find the music going at full-tilt, the dancing and games and one-on-one matches as enthusiastic as the night before.  "Is it always like this?" she asked in disbelief.

 

"Sort of," he answered, looking out over the court with a frown, "though they're not usually this...purposeful about it."

 

Before she could ask him what the heck that meant, a small crowd of fae came dancing up to them, laughing and urging the couple to join in.  To their disappointment, neither touched any food or drink this time, and to get them to stop whining and pestering, Kenshin finally said, "Ritsuko-dono, Maya-dono, perhaps you might treat us to a performance?"

 

The handmaids' eyes lit up.  The one called Ritsuko ran to fetch a flute, as Maya found a high stool and positioned it in the middle of the floor, which her companions were clearing.  The diners grumbled as they fell back against the walls, but their protests were faint, and once they had settled down to watch, their eyes grew heavy-lidded with contentment.

 

Kaoru settled down once more in Kenshin's lap, and as the flute's music wavered out into the silence and Maya's voice rose hauntingly, Kaoru found herself captivated.  The other handmaids wove a silent dance in time to the music, their movements unbelievably graceful.

_"I now sing the story of Ariel,"_ Kenshin murmured into her ear, and Kaoru realized he was translating.  _"An airy sprite, beloved of the fae, doomed to an Unseelie enchantment broken only by a cruel sorcerer's curse...."_

 

The tale was a long one.  Kaoru thought it sounded vaguely familiar, but from an odd perspective, and she listened dreamily to Kenshin's soft voice, relaxing in the warmth of his arms.  When she awakened, she found herself lying in a dark room, perhaps the same one they had slept in the night before.  The walls were glittering softly in the darkness, and there was a fairy curled up in her shoe.

 

She was alone.  Kaoru sat up, staring around her.  She climbed out of bed quickly, a little relieved to find that she was wearing the same clothes as before.  She gently lifted the fairy out of her shoe, which barely stirred as she re-positioned it on her pillow.  Then she went in search of her husband.

 

The halls seemed like they should be a maze, but Kaoru could have sworn that they adjusted themselves as she walked.  Extra doorways disappeared, the entry at the first dead end she turned into opened up straight into the anteroom of the hall where they had feasted.  It was dark as she crept on, her way lighted only by dim balls of light glowing from regular intervals in the walls.  She could hear a murmuring of voices beyond; otherwise, it was eerily quiet.  A wisp of rainbowy, feathery stuff covered the entryway to the hall, which she hesitantly pulled a little aside in order to see.

 

It was better-lit there, though the light seemed to be concentrated on the dais.  Many of the fae were gone; those that remained were all deeply asleep, some still clutching half-empty cups.  Titania was curled comfortably in her throne, lazily sipping from a goblet as she spoke to her grandson, who was sitting nearby, looking much more grave.

 

"...but do you think there is any hope of success?" he was asking, or at least that's what Kaoru thought she heard, his voice was so low.

 

The queen shrugged.  "Perhaps.  Probably not.  He must be telling the truth at least partially, otherwise she would never have gone along with it, the little slut....  Even so, you're too trusting, Kenshin.  I don't know how someone with fae blood, who has been betrayed so many times, can keep such naive trust in the face of everything...yet, somehow, you do."

 

"Are you answering this one's question?"

 

She chuckled.  "Not in the way you would like me to."  Then she sighed as she saw his solemn expression.  "Oh, Kenshin, is this to be the last face I see?"

 

He smiled at that.  "If it does not please you, then no."

 

"That's hardly better," she sniffed.  "I hate that long-suffering, self-sacrificing smile of yours.  Why can't you be merry, for once in your life?  Surely your human blood isn't _that_ strong, to drown all the gaiety you should have been born loving."

 

"Gaiety was rather difficult to maintain in the life led under Shishio's command.  Unfortunately, this one fell out of the habit."

 

Titania set down her goblet.  "Dance with me, Kenshin," she asked softly.  "You haven't for so long...not since you were a child."

 

He paused.  Then he rose and held out his hand to her, and her delight was almost that of a young girl's rather than an ancient immortal's, when she took his hand and allowed him to lift her to her feet.  Soft music came from nowhere, floating around the room in sweet strains.  Kaoru tried to feel jealous as she watched them, but somehow, she couldn't, not when she saw their faces.

 

Titania looked rapturous, her eyes closed as she glided and twirled, her hands never leaving his.  She had completely forgotten that she was the queen, the one in ultimate control; as she let him lead her through their steps, her heart was lighter than she could ever remember it being, but she did not even realize it.

 

Kenshin's smile was gentle and kind...at first.  As he danced with the queen of the fae, something touched his heart that he thought he had long forgotten.  The weariness seemed to drop away from him, a mischievous spark lit in his eyes, and it was with an almost sly chuckle that he lunged into the next step and cast the queen into the air.

 

Titania's cry of surprise nearly caused the music to falter, but when she saw his expression, she met him grin for grin.  She drifted easily in the air as if it was her natural element, and scattered something like glittering sand over her partner.  He rose up expectantly to take her hands again.

 

They spun slowly together, touched down gently, only to take off again as the music quickened.  She leaped ahead and perched atop her throne, smiling in seductive challenge; he arched an eyebrow and drifted close, only to have her spin away again.

 

Now Kaoru _was_ jealous.  A pulsing anger was building up in her as she watched, and she was all set to storm in there and re-arrange Kenshin's face, when the dance suddenly ended.

 

He had caught her.  She had let him, of course; but when, suddenly shorter than him, she turned up her face for a kiss, he looked away.

 

"Kenshin," she whispered breathily, "come.  The girl is asleep, she'll never know."  Even as she spoke, her eyes gleamed, and for a moment she looked straight at Kaoru before she smiled and returned her gaze to Kenshin.

 

He let go of her and stepped away.  "That does not matter," he said, distantly.  "This one's feelings have not changed."

 

"Stop it!" the queen suddenly shouted.  "Cut it out with the sesshas and donos and de-gozarus!  It's driving me crazy!  When you truly were a slave, you behaved every inch a prince; and now that you're free, you grovel to people, to _women_ , as if they were your masters?"

 

He shrugged.  "You wouldn't understand," he said, in a careless tone that frightened her.

 

"Kenshin," she snapped, "don't treat me like this, like you're already--"

 

"Does it matter?" he returned, flipping his hair back in an unusual gesture.  "This one only returned to the Seelie to say good-bye, that he did."  He grinned again.  "This one would like to thank you, Grandmother.  He had forgotten what it was like to simply have fun.  It is a good memory to end with, that it is."

 

"Shut up," she said sulkily.  "Your lover's been skulking in the doorway, by the way."

 

He frowned in puzzlement, then turned to find Kaoru staring at him.  "Kaoru-dono!" he gasped in surprise, and the fey expression in his eyes vanished.

 

She was not aware of her hands gripping the rainbowy stuff so hard that it began to tear.  "Ke-n-shi-n," she growled.

 

"Ahaha...."  The laugh was much more nervous than usual as he ran a hand through his hair and smiled.  "Kaoru-dono.  Does the guest suite not suit you?"

 

"It would _suit_ me...much, MUCH better...if I didn't have to sleep in it _alone_ ," she said, very pointedly.

 

He stared at her, and his face colored a little as he glanced at Titania and then away.  "...Is that so?"

 

Titania suddenly smiled and pushed him toward Kaoru.  "Go on, Kenshin.  You didn't get to enjoy your wife last night, did you?  Here's your chance, she's been waiting for you."

 

He turned his head to give her an incredulous look.  "Grandmother...it is making this one nervous that you would be...encouraging such a thing, that it is."

 

She tossed her head haughtily.  "Believe me, I am _over_ you.  You really are conceited, aren't you?  Just go; Chou should be back soon, anyway, and I can wait for him without _you_."

 

"...Very well."  He gave her one last, uncertain look, before letting Kaoru pull him out of the room.

 

As Titania heard Kaoru's raised voice and Kenshin's feeble responses fading away down a corridor, she blew out an annoyed breath.  "Himura Kenshin, you are _maddening_."  Then she grinned nastily.  "Go screw that whiny mortal you imagine yourself to be in love with.  If it means you won't go through with this stupid plan of yours...."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  There are several Japanese pronouns for "I."  "Ore" is what Kenshin uses in Battousai mode, and "sessha" in rurouni mode.

 

Maya is re-telling Ariel's subplot in Shakespeare's _The Tempest_.


	25. Chapter 25

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 6 - In which Kenshin finds it difficult to leave.**

 

_"The Queen of Fairies she caught me,_

_In yonder green hill to dwell."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

_Titania curled up in her bed, weaving spells around the room to block out all the chaotic sounds from outside.  She hadn't realized how much a part of the Seelie court Tomoe had become...she hadn't realized that she would miss her like this.  That dark, foreign, quiet woman in their midst had unnerved them at first, but they had come to rely on her steadiness, to seek out her strangely familiar Unseelie playfulness.  They were all fae, after all.  Kenshin, beloved as he was, understood them as an outsider, a dear friend.  Tomoe understood them as one of their own family, bound to them through all the hate and all the love._

_The handmaids had cried when she had been taken._

_Chills went down Titania's spine, because the new Faerie King knew - he knew what she had done, long ago in her rage, and he meant to use that knowledge to hurt Kenshin._

_No...not just to hurt him.  Titania slid upright, her breathing harsh.  She had to do something.  She had to save Kenshin, but even she with all her powers could not change the past - and then she nearly choked._ This was it. _This was the time.  When else could it be?_

_Resolutely, the queen rose from her bed and arrayed herself with her best glamours, arranging her hair and clothes as would best suit a proud monarch.  Then she took a deep breath and stepped through the bounds of time, as only she and the Faerie King had the power to do.  She navigated her way back, years passing like seconds, until she emerged in the same room, but of a different time.  She smiled a little as she made her slow, majestic way to the main hall, where her people parted and made way for her, their faces filled with awe._

_Tomoe sagged between two handmaids, drugged on hakubaikô, her eyes glassy and restlessly wandering.  The Faerie Queen of the past looked up and smiled when she saw Titania, cupping the blood-red object in her hands like a prize.  "Hello, dear," she greeted cheerfully.  "To what do I owe the pleasure of such a visit?"_

_Titania approached, giving Tomoe a carefully absent-minded pat on the shoulder as she passed.  The brief contact sent a burst of reviving magic through the girl, who raised her hand to clutch at Titania's sleeve.  "Hurts," she said plaintively._

_"It won't for long, dear," Titania said soothingly, then winked at her past self to allay suspicion.  "To answer your question," she now addressed the queen, moving close, "I'm here to tell you a splendid hiding place for that thing."_

_The queen's hands tightened excitedly around the red prize, and Tomoe cried out in pain._

_"Do enlighten me, dear," the queen invited._

_Titania stepped close and whispered into her ear - the fae strained and some magically projected their hearing, but in vain._

_The queen gasped in delight.  "Oh, lovely!  We_ are _clever!"_

_"Yes," Titania agreed, though her heart was heavy.  "Well then, I must fly.  Do give my regards to Kenshin, love."_

_"Take care, dear," the queen answered merrily.  They kissed in farewell, and even as she returned to her own time, Titania heard the creaking of the doors as they opened to admit young Himura Battousai.  "It's not enough," she whispered to him, though of course he couldn't hear.  "It's not nearly enough...but I swear to do all in my power to keep you safe, Kenshin."_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was one of the best awakenings Kaoru had had in a while.  She yawned, then lazily turned over in bed - and was shocked to find her husband lying beside her.  She had very, very rarely seen him sleep; usually Kenshin was up before her, fully dressed and groomed and already engaged in the day's activities.  Yet here he was lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling with an unhappy expression.

 

"Kenshin?"

 

She heard him draw in a breath, then he turned his face to her and smiled.  "Good morning, Kaoru-dono."

 

"Um," she said uncertainly, "are you all right?"

 

"Mm...how can you ask that, after last night?" he drawled, and moved over to wrap his arms around her.

 

She smiled at the feel of his flesh on hers, and squeezed him tightly back.  "It's not often I get to smell your morning breath," she teased.  "May I ask the reason for this special occasion?"

 

He gazed at her in confusion.  "Oro?"

 

"You," she murmured, lifting her head to nuzzle his ear.  "You're here.  I'd have thought you'd be up, dressed, and gone by now."  She heard him sigh.

 

"...To tell the truth, that was the plan."

 

She frowned and shifted to face him again.  "What do you mean?"

 

He smiled a little.  Might as well take advantage of this annoying situation.  "Well, circumstances changed.  But as long as we're here...."

 

Some time later, the conversation resumed.  "Mm...Kenshin..." she murmured in contentment.  "I really, really like this, you know."

 

This time it was his turn to tease.  "Do you?  This one wouldn't have guessed."

 

She giggled.  "No, I mean...waking up to you.  You know."  She smiled at him.  "Seeing you slow down for once, instead of...."  _Instead of rushing to get away from me._   "Maybe...when we get back home, you can sleep in more often."

 

"Oh."  Again, he was wearing the wrong expression.

 

Kaoru frowned and sat up.  "Kenshin, what's wrong?"

 

He lifted himself up to one elbow and gave her a pointed look.  "Aside from the fact that our son is lying in a coma?"

 

"Kenshin!" she gasped, her cheeks coloring a little.  "That's not what I mean!  What's wrong with _you_?  You've been acting weird ever since Sôjirô came back."  She was shocked when he did not meet her eyes.

 

"Kaoru-dono...this one is trying very hard to make things right."  He sighed.  "This one knew it would be difficult, but...not like this."  Then an annoyed look crossed his face.  "And it doesn't help that Grandmother chooses to play games even now."  Suddenly he sat upright.  "Grandmother!" he gasped furiously.  " _That's_ why she was so willing to let...."

 

"Kenshin, what are you talking about?"

 

He gave her a sidelong look.  "Kaoru-dono...what were your plans for today?"

 

"I don't know," she huffed.  "Seeing as how I'm not privy to _your_ plans, I was probably going to do my best to keep you with me as long as possible."

 

"You're not the only one," he grumbled.

 

Before Kaoru could ask what he was talking about, the door burst open.  She shrieked and dragged up the sheet to cover herself, then grabbed a pillow and tossed it into Kenshin's lap.  "Do you _mind_?" she said furiously to the handmaid who had entered.

 

The girl burst into giggles.  "Ken-chan," she said, "we brought breakfast."

 

"No thank you, Michiko-dono," he said coolly.

 

"It's not fey food, we _promise_!" she insisted.  More handmaids came in, bearing trays of food which they presented to the couple before perching on the edges of the bed to watch with interest.  Kaoru glared at them as Kenshin thoughtfully ran his hand above the food, sensing it with his magic.

 

"You're right," he said in surprise, then shook his head.  "Grandmother is truly going out of her way to make this one as _comfortable_ here as possible."

 

The handmaids burst into laughter, but at a glare from Kenshin, they backed away and sheepishly left the room, shutting the door behind them.

 

"What is with them?" Kaoru burst out.

 

"Don't mind them, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said heavily.  He handed her a bowl of rice.  "It's all right - it's food from the human world."

 

Kaoru eyed the rice, then Kenshin's face.  He seemed preoccupied, but she was too hungry to care about fae tricks.  So she grabbed the bowl and dug into it hungrily, even eating part of his share before she realized what she was doing.  "Oh...Kenshin, aren't you going to eat?"

 

"This one is not hungry," he said heavily.

 

She frowned and set down the bowl.  "Kenshin," she said sternly, "tell me what's wrong."

 

He paused.  Then a look crossed his face as if something had just occurred to him.  He looked around the room, then said, not casually enough, "Kaoru-dono, would you mind fetching the sakabatô, please?"

 

"Why?" she asked guardedly.  Ordinarily, she wouldn't have hesitated, but Kenshin was acting strange.

 

He smiled a little, as if guessing her thoughts.  "Please."

 

She sighed.  "All right."  Keeping one eye on him, she climbed out of bed and crossed the room to get his sword.  Then she brought it back to him.  "Here," she said, holding it out.

 

He took it thoughtfully.  "Thank you, Kaoru-dono."

 

"What's the deal?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips.  "Kenshin, you'd better tell me right now, or the biggest, bluest eyes in the world won't save you from the wrath of Himura Kaoru!"  She was trying to joke, but she really was troubled by his odd behavior.

 

Kenshin took his time answering, he seemed to be more interested in surveying her unclothed body.  Kaoru smiled in pleasure and spun slowly for him.  "Like what you see?" she asked, though the usual question had become more anxious in the years since her children had been born.

 

"Oh, yes," he answered lazily, as always.

 

Then Kaoru suddenly frowned.  Grabbing the sheet again, she wrapped it firmly around herself and leveled a glare at him.

 

"Oro?!"

 

"Kenshin," she growled, "tell me _now_."

 

He scratched the back of his head.  "Well.  Let's just say that...this one could not have fetched the sakabatô himself."

 

Kaoru tilted her head in confusion.  "What?"

 

"Or anything else, for that matter."  He smiled and held his arms out to her.  She could see his fingers straining, his arms stretched as far as they would go; even his upper body was leaning forward as if pushing against resistance.  Then he gave up and sat back again.  "See?"

 

"You...you mean you can't...leave the bed?" she said in disbelief.

 

He shrugged.  "This one is irritated and ashamed to admit that that is correct."

 

"But... _why_?" she said in bewilderment.  "That's the stupidest spell I've ever heard of!"

 

"Not if the caster wishes to prevent this one from leaving the Seelie court," Kenshin muttered, and flopped back down again with an arm over his eyes.

 

Kaoru hesitated, then crawled up next to him.  "Kenshin?" she said softly.

 

"Hm?"

 

"Is it so bad...taking your time for once?  Is it so bad to _rest_ for a little bit?"

 

He removed his arm and looked straight at her, his eyes cold.  "Kaoru-dono.  Your son is on the verge of death, and you ask a question like that?"

 

Shame burned through her, which turned quickly to anger.  "I didn't mean to just _leave_ Kenji like he is!" she yelled as she sat up.  "If--"  She sucked in a breath and spewed out the rest.  "If you'd just agree to take me _with_ you, I'd want to leave in a heartbeat!  It's just...."  Her voice trailed off, and she glared down at Kenshin with angry tears in her eyes.  "It's just that I hate, _hate_ watching you walk away from me, Kenshin."

 

"You had better get used to it," he said, still in that cold voice, so that Kaoru suddenly slapped him, awkwardly because of their positions.  He seemed to have no reaction, glaring back at her with those awful eyes as his struck cheek slowly reddened.

 

"Why would you say something like that?" she said sulkily, barely able to stand the shame.

 

He sat up as well, his red hair swinging forward to brush his shoulders as he looked at the wall.  "Forget it."  He drew in a deep breath.  "Kaoru-dono...my apologies," he said quietly.  She could hear the effort he was making to sound civil.

 

"I'm...sorry for hitting you," she mumbled.  For a minute, they sat there without speaking, and then his hand found hers.

 

"Kaoru-dono," he said in a low voice, "the sakabatô is made of mythril, and has no power to break Seelie spells.  Is there any chance you brought a knife with you?"

 

"No," she doubtfully.  "I pretty much just got out of bed and ran after you yesterday morning.  All I have is the robe--"  She broke off, because she suddenly remembered the packet of fae-bane Saitô had slipped to her - as if he had known.  Jumping out of bed, Kaoru hurried to her discarded clothes and rummaged around until she found, to her relief, that the little bag was still there.  It was with a triumphant smile that she pulled out a small but sharp iron spike and showed it to Kenshin.

 

He matched her grin.  "Prepared, aren't you."

 

Her face colored a little.  "It was Saitô's idea...."

 

Kenshin shook his head.  "That man is almost _too_ perceptive, that he is.  Perhaps he ought to have a raise...."  He suddenly looked up.  "Kaoru-dono," he said earnestly, "this one is very sorry to have upset you."

 

She laughed a little sobbing laugh and hugged him around the neck.  "I'm sorry, too.  I really am!"

 

He stroked her hair, lingering a bit to breathe in the smell of her skin.  Then he gently pushed her away and got to work, stabbing the iron into a corner of the bed and carefully dragging it all the way around.  The material of the bed offered more resistance than the spell holding him here, which crumbled instantly at the touch of the metal.

 

"K-Kenshin!" Kaoru suddenly gasped when the silken sheets began to turn into very coarse, brown fabric.  She wasn't even sure it was meant to be a blanket - the binding spell wasn't the only magic that was unraveling.  " _That's_ what we were sleeping on last night?!"

 

Kenshin would not have minded sleeping on a glamoured bed, except that, because of their energetic nocturnal activities, Kaoru's body as well as his own were showing signs of abrasions now that the glamour was wearing off.  The sight of scratches across her soft flesh was unacceptable to him.  "Someone," he growled as he kept at it, "is going to regret it when I am released."

 

"Yeah," Kaoru huffed, wincing as she touched a patch of raw, reddened flesh.  "Sic 'em, Kenshin."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

In the throne room, the queen was studying her face critically in a mirror as a handmaid worked on her hair, and another touched up the glamours on her dress.  "Stop pulling," she said crossly.  "Where's Tomoe when I need her?  That girl was the only one who could do my hair right.  Curse that Enishi!  Walking straight into _my_ court to carry off _my_ handmaid...."  As she was musing over possible plans for revenge, Titania suddenly looked up when two unwelcome visitors entered.  "You're supposed to be in bed," she said flatly.

 

"This one felt it was not prudent to sleep in this morning," Kenshin returned smoothly.  "Grandmother, this one has come to formally take his leave of this court, after of course seeing that Kaoru-dono is escorted safely home."

 

Titania knocked away her handmaids and stood up, eyes blazing.  Then she suddenly smiled.  "Oh - very well, then, Kenshin.  I will miss you in your absence, as always.  Come here and say good-bye to your grandmother, love."

 

He gave her a wary look.  "This one would prefer to bid you farewell from afar."

 

She sniffed.  "Fine.  I don't need you close for his spell, anyway."  She flung out her hand in a tossing motion, and Kenshin gasped when he saw the briefest glint of red and black in the air.  "Good-bye, love!" Titania called merrily.  "Do drop in when you get back."

 

Kaoru nodded curtly, then turned to her husband.  "Kenshin?" she asked hesitantly.  "Can I walk with you part of the way, at least?  Let me stay with you as long as I can."

 

He began to laugh hopelessly.  "Not again...."

 

Kaoru stared at him, and then her eyes narrowed.  " _Excuse_ me?"

 

Still laughing in that utterly humorless way, Kenshin took a few steps away from her, then tugged sharply with his hand.  Kaoru gasped when she felt a stinging in her wrist.  "What...?"

 

"Hilarious, Grandmother," Kenshin said dryly.  "Now, please release us.  This is no time to joke."

 

"Who says it's a joke, Kenshin?" Titania said sweetly.  "Your lovely wife wishes nothing better than to be with you all the time!  I am simply granting her wish!  That's what fairies do, right?"  She laughed.  "I'm so glad I had a lock of your hair among my mementos...you've cut it too short now for it to be much good."

 

"Kaoru-dono, please keep close to this one," Kenshin said shortly, then turned and stormed out of the hall.

 

"Kenshin, what--" Kaoru began, then found herself dragged after him by the wrist.  "Kenshin!  What's going on?!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was actually kind of interesting to be tied to her husband for a day, though the experience was spoiled by Kenshin's sulking.  "Kenshin," Kaoru said hesitantly, "is it so bad, being connected to me like this?"

 

They were attempting to eat lunch in one of the gardens.  Kaoru was watching the handmaids' antics and stealing glances at Kenshin as she chewed, but he simply sat there, his sword nestled in his crossed arms and his face hidden by those thick bangs of his.

 

"Yes, Kaoru-dono - at least, if this one's intention is to stride into enemy territory and do battle with those who stand in the way, that it is."  He raised his head and gave her a wry look.  "Once upon a time, this one was caught under such a spell along with Tomoe.  It was the Faerie Queen who broke that enchantment, so you see the dilemma."  He dropped his head again and sighed.

 

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably.  "Kenshin," she mumbled, "how come you never...call me by just my name?"

 

"Oro?" he said wearily.

 

"It's always 'Tomoe,'" she suddenly burst out, "and 'Kaoru-dono.'  Like you're more comfortable with _her_ than with me."

 

Kenshin stared at her for a long moment in surprise.  "Is that so?" he finally said.  However, since the issue would soon no longer matter, he was not interested in it.  "This one is sorry you feel that way.  No offense was intended...Kaoru-dono."  The last was spoken with a tiny quirk at the corner of his mouth, so that Kaoru suddenly giggled as she remembered the first time he had spoken to her.

 

"Well...I guess it's better than 'Kaoru-hime,' but still.  How would _you_ like it if I called you 'Kenshin-san' all the time?"

 

He felt very strange as he heard that.  "Such a thing would be unpleasant," he admitted.  "Yet you have never complained about it before."

 

Kaoru drew her knees up and hugged them, suddenly embarrassed.  "Well...it didn't bother me after a little while, and I kind of liked it, even."  Her mouth suddenly set in a hard line.  "But not when Tomoe-san is 'Tomoe' to you."

 

"Mm."  He was frowning as he watched an Unseelie fire sprite making his way through the shrieking, giggling handmaids.  "Now, what's he doing here?"

 

"Kenshin, I'm talking to you!" Kaoru snapped.

 

"Sorry.  What was that?"

 

"Never mind," she huffed, and turned her back on him.

 

She didn't see him shake his head and give her an affectionate look before getting up.  "Kaoru-dono, are you finished eating?  This one would like to find out why Chou was admitted so freely."

 

"Do what you want," Kaoru grumbled, wondering why he was talking about one of Saitô's spies.  She stood up, then suddenly grabbed him and kissed him.  He seemed surprised, and when they parted she looked fiercely into his eyes and asked, "Kenshin...do you love me?"

 

He took his time answering, gazing into her face intently as if memorizing her every feature.  "This one's heart is full to the brim with love for you, that it is," he answered softly.  Then he turned quickly away, but not before she saw, just for an instant, the sudden welling of tears.

 

"Kenshin?" she asked in concern, but he was already striding away.  Her wrist was leaping after him, pulled by the enchanted strands of their hair, and she had to hurry to keep up.

 

In the throne room, Chou was presenting himself to the Faerie Queen, who surveyed him frostily.  "You're late.  I was expecting you back last night."

 

"Apologies, m'lady," the fire sprite answered smoothly.  "Perhaps your most gracious Majesty would be appeased by a gift?"

 

She raised her eyebrows, but deigned to say nothing.

 

Chou shrugged.  He elegantly flipped into view a pretty little box, wrapped with gold paper and a wide red ribbon.  Titania watched him carefully as he approached and opened the box with much ceremony, to reveal some plain brown lumps nestled in thin paper cups.

 

Titania's eyes lit up.  "You didn't!"

 

"I did," he said, and delicately picked up one of the brown things.  "Chocolate, all the way from the 1990's, just for you, m'lady."

 

"Tell me!" she shrieked in agitated delight.  "Tell me how you got it!  It's impossible, you can't!"

 

He raised his eyebrows.  "Can't I?"

 

" _Tell me_!"

 

"It's a se-e-ecret."  He quickly offered to place the chocolate in her mouth before she could insist further.

 

"Ohhh...."  She closed her eyes in ecstasy as the milky sweetness dissolved on her tongue.  It was only after she had thoroughly finished savoring it that Chou ventured to hand her a letter, which had been the purpose of the errand she had sent him on.

 

Her brows came together thunderously when she read it ("Tam's a fool if he thinks he still has any favor with me"), but was quickly distracted from her displeasure by the rest of the chocolate that Chou was now waving lazily under her nose.  Grinning, she dropped the letter and snatched away the box in order to devour its contents.

 

"Hey!" he protested.  "It was to _share_!"  He grabbed for it again, which resulted in a tussle that somehow ended in a long, sloppy, sugary kiss.

 

"How long do we have to watch this?" Kaoru grumbled.

 

"No longer," Kenshin answered softly, looking rather amused.  "The situation is clearer, though this one will still need to speak to Chou alone.  Where would you like to go, Kaoru-dono?"

 

She eyed him.  "What do you say to...the bedroom?" she asked testingly.

 

"If you like."

 

"Hold your horses there, tiger!" she said sarcastically.  "Or would you rather us go to the swimming pool, or the gardens, or the dancing lawns?  Which would you _prefer_?"

 

"Whatever you like, Kaoru-dono," he answered honestly.  He wanted to spend this day, at least, doing whatever would please her best.

 

She threw up her hands in exasperation.  "You really don't want to, do you!  You don't even care!"

 

"Oro...this one doesn't quite understand...this one cares about you very much, Kaoru-dono."  He glanced uneasily at Titania and Chou; the former was glowering at the interruption, the latter frowning at Kenshin in recognition.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "Kenshin, honestly.  Do you want to..." she glanced self-consciously at the other couple as well, "...come to...you know; come with me?  Do you really want to?  Or are you just...I don't know, fulfilling some duty?"

 

"This one would most like to do whatever would please Kaoru-dono."

 

Titania and Chou rolled their eyes in unison.

 

Kaoru felt like tearing out her hair, but as she looked at her beautiful husband and visualized the body she knew was concealed under his clothing, she decided that she could wait until later to yell at him.  "You know what, Kenshin, let's just go."  She backed out of the room, drawing him after her by their linked wrists; he smiled at her and came willingly.

 

"What a pair of idiots," Chou commented.

 

"Yes...but forget them, love," Titania purred.  "Where were we?"  She reached to kiss him again, but he pulled away just a little.

 

"You know," he drawled carefully, "much as I'm lookin' forward to this, let me just point out, with the greatest respect, that my services are still, at the moment, purely voluntary...."

 

A spark of irritation lit her eyes, then subsided.  "You so sure about that?" she whispered in his ear, giving it a little lick as she spoke.  Then she guided his hand beneath her skirt, where he felt the handle of a knife strapped to her thigh.  Frowning, he grasped it and tried to draw it out, but more and more blade appeared until he found himself holding a sword.

 

"Look...at...this," he gasped, touching the clear blade ever so gently; his thumb came away slick with blood.  "This is incredible!  How many bodies can this cut through?"

 

She grinned, though her eyes were cold.  "Let me know when you find out."

 

He held the sword up to the light, so that suddenly it seemed like he was holding a weapon made of rainbows.  "This can't be mythril, no way it's admantine...what the heck is it?"

 

"It's diamond," she said sweetly.  "Sort of.  Bit of plastic, too, though it's enchanted so you'll only be able to tell by the feel."

 

"Plastic?" he said absently, still admiring it.  "What's that, some Seelie magic?"

 

Titania frowned playfully, though her eyes were narrowed.  "So you know about chocolate, but not plastic...."

 

His eyes flicked to her in alarm, but then he grinned.  "Just kidding.  This is awesome, m'lady."

 

She smiled and let him get away with it.  Now was not the time.  "So you like it?"

 

" _Oh_ yeah," he said gleefully, giving it a couple of testing swings.

 

"But not as much as the place where you got it from, right?" she said, guiding his hand back.

 

He hesitated for just a moment, his eyes straying to his new sword.  Then he remembered that he was a disgraced Unseelie, and this was the Seelie queen, and he remembered the doddering, heartbroken old man he had just returned from visiting, whose desperate letter now lay discarded and forgotten on the floor at Titania's feet.  Chou smiled to hide his irritation, laid the sword aside, and wrapped his arms around her.  "As you wish, m'lady."

 

_To be continued...._


	26. Chapter 26

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 7 - In which Kenshin formulates a plan.**

 

_"Light down, light down, now, True Thomas,_

_And lean your head upon my knee;_

_Abide and rest a little space,_

_And I will show you wonders three."_

from "The Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer"

 

o.o.o

 

"Chou."

 

"Whoa!"  The fire sprite jumped and whirled to find the former assassin behind him, tailed by his mortal queen.  "You!  Whaddaya think you're doin', sneaking up on people like that?"

 

"Sorry."  Kenshin flashed him a smile.  It was late, they were the only ones about in the corridors.  "Long time no see.  How have you been?"

 

Chou shrugged.  "Being the Faerie Queen's lover has its advantages."

 

"Mm.  Some disadvantages, too, this one guesses."

 

Chou grimaced.  "Let's not talk about that."

 

"Hi, Chou," Kaoru said cautiously.

 

He gave her an equally wary look.  "Hi, Jooh."

 

"What are you doing here?" she wanted to know.

 

He shrugged.  "Spying for Bamboo Curtain Head."

 

"Oh!" she realized.  "So _this_ is where you keep disappearing off to on 'business'?"

 

He looked indignant at her expression.  "Hey, you think I _like_ screwing around with that crazy fairy?  I'm a spy, you know!  It's hard work."

 

"Uh huh," she answered, still smirking.

 

"Chou," Kenshin cut in meaningfully.  "Let's take this somewhere private."

 

They moved to one of the unoccupied rooms nearby, and the fire sprite sighed once the door had been shut and sound-proofed.  "What do you want, Battousai?"

 

"Chou," Kenshin drawled, "it occurs to this one that you owe him a large favor."

 

"Crap."  The sprite's eyes darted from side to side, as if looking for an escape, but he knew there was none.  Confronting a man whose wife you once tried to assassinate doesn't leave you a lot of options.

 

Kenshin smiled his pretty smile.  "Nothing big, don't worry."

 

"Which means I'll _still_ owe you favors!" Chou returned indignantly.

 

"True," Kenshin answered smoothly.  "So perhaps you wouldn't mind performing two at the moment.  One requires the use of that convenient headband of yours; the other needs...let's see, an Unseelie blade and a mortal one."

 

"Admantine isn't allowed in the Seelie court," Chou said smugly.

 

"And yet somehow you still have such a blade hidden in your boot, isn't that so?" Kenshin answered cheerfully.

 

Chou cursed, until Kaoru whacked him.  "Watch your language in front of your queen, baka!"

 

Chou rubbed the back of his head resentfully, still looking at Kenshin.  "You're crossing Titania.  You _idiot_."

 

"What's wrong, Chou?  Are you frightened?" Kenshin returned.

 

"Of a woman?  No way!"  Chou licked his lips apprehensively.  "Look...."

 

"You look."  Kenshin's expression was suddenly deadly.  " _We need to get out of here._   Kaoru-dono is in danger, and this one has been delayed too long already.  You will help free us, and you will contact Saitô, and then you will bring Sôjirô here and make sure that, at the first opportunity, the two of them are returned home safely."

 

Kaoru's lips tightened, but she did not voice her protests yet.

 

Chou looked at those burning gold eyes, and could not help shuddering.  The last time he had seen those eyes had been during a battle with their owner, and it had not gone well for him at all.  "Fine.  Fine, already!"  He reached up and, in a practiced gesture, smoothly removed his headband.  "Here.  And you'd better not have lice or anything," he grumbled as he handed it to Kenshin.

 

"Fae never have lice."

 

"You're only part fae," Chou pointed out.

 

"Sort of."  Kenshin settled the thing on his own head.  For a minute, he wore a look of concentration, then startled Kaoru when he suddenly said, "Hello, Saitô."

 

"Huh?"  Kaoru looked around, but the room was deserted except for the three of them.

 

Her attention was drawn back to Kenshin when he chuckled and said, "No.  This one is quite alive and well, thanks for asking."

 

"Who're you talking to?" Kaoru asked, but he only waved her off.  "Kenshin!"

 

"Talkin' to Bamboo Curtain Head," Chou grunted.  "Magic.  Quiet."

 

"He's talking to _Saitô_?" Kaoru exclaimed, unable to believe it.

 

"Is that so," Kenshin was saying quietly, looking unhappy.  "Tell them...tell them that this one loves them, and that their mother is coming home soon, that she is."

 

Kaoru's chest suddenly tightened, as she realized that Kenshin must be talking about the girls.  They probably missed her and Kenshin so much...all of a sudden, it didn't seem like such a bad thing to go home.

 

Kenshin's face suddenly cleared.  "Yes," he said strongly.  "Yes, she is.  Chou will be returning briefly to collect Sôjirô and bring him back here.  Once it's safe to leave, Chou has instructions to bring Kaoru-dono and Sôjirô back home by tomorrow afternoon - this one is counting on the two of you to make sure that Kaoru-dono is safe."

 

Kaoru rolled her eyes.

 

After listening a little longer, Kenshin answered quietly, "Sharp as ever, aren't you.  Saitô, you must keep this knowledge to yourself."  His face hardened.  "But don't try anything.  Kaoru-dono, Sano, Sôjirô, Kenji...there will be many to stop you if you do."  Then he smiled.  "Of course.  Now, is there anything else on your end?"

 

After a minute, his eyes widened.  "A full report isn't necessary!  Are there any messages, this one meant."  He listened quietly.  "Tell Sano this one is sorry--"  He rolled his eyes.  "True.  But tell them anyway.  This one is very sorry.  It will be better when Kaoru-dono is back home, and when Kenji awakens."  He sighed at the response.  "That is understood.  Goodbye, Saitô."

 

He reached up and removed the headband, returning it to Chou.  "Thank you.  Now--"

 

Chou flapped a hand at him.  "Yeah, yeah; way ahead of you."  He vanished, then re-appeared almost at once with Sôjirô, who was fully dressed and armed.

 

Kaoru jumped at the suddenness of it, and Kenshin laid a hand on her shoulder.  "For them, it probably seemed to take much longer," he murmured in explanation.

 

"Himura-Ô," Sôjirô said cheerfully, "Kaoru-Jooh!  It's good to see you both well.  How are things progressing?"

 

"They're progressing," Kenshin grumbled, "however painfully slowly."

 

"Sôjirô," Kaoru said weakly.  He smiled and lifted a hand in greeting.

 

"Thank you for coming," Kenshin said.  "This one needs someone trustworthy here, to look after Kaoru-dono."

 

"That's my job, after all," Sôjirô agreed.

 

"Well," Chou said loudly, "now that that's all dealt with, I'll just be on my way then--"  He gulped when he suddenly found a mythril sakabatô at his throat.

 

"Don't be running off just yet," Kenshin said sweetly.  "Your blades, Chou."

 

"All right.  All right!"  As Sôjirô looked on curiously, Chou drew a steel sword from his back and stooped to retrieve the admantine knife hidden in his boot.  Kenshin, meanwhile, was looping the strands of enchanted hair around his and Kaoru's wrists, so that there remained about five centimeters between them with no slack.  Then he took Chou's knife and instructed Kaoru to take the heavy sword.

 

Laying the blades as close together as possible on the hairs, Kaoru looked up at him expectantly, and Kenshin took a deep breath.  "Now, all you need to do is press hard and slowly, Kaoru-dono.  And please do not interrupt this one, any of you."  Kaoru pushed down with the sword, half-expecting it to part the hairs at once; instead, it felt like she was pushing down on something tough and flexible, as if she was trying to use a butter knife to cut rope.

 

Kenshin, meanwhile, had adopted a look of deep concentration.  It took a monarch to break the spell of another monarch, and he somehow had to figure out how to convert his king's authority into magic, so that it would have an effect.  Such a thing came naturally to fae like Titania, Oberon, and now Enishi, but Kenshin's magic was heavily crippled by his mortal blood, and it took him a full five minutes to discover how to do it.  When it actually happened, it was instantaneous.  The spell shriveled, and the hairs parted so quickly that both he and Kaoru accidentally cut each other.

 

"Oww," Kaoru complained, sucking at the small wound on the side of her wrist.

 

"Apologies, Kaoru-dono," he said, wincing and pressing his fingers over the more serious slash on his arm.  He was glad he had thought to give her the more dangerous weapon.

 

"She's coming," Chou suddenly said.

 

Kenshin quickly returned the blades (which disappeared instantly into Chou's clothing) and knotted the hairs together again.  "She might notice they are no longer enchanted," he whispered to Kaoru.  "Keep your hand down, this one will try to keep her distracted."

 

"Got it," she murmured back.

 

"I'm out of here," Chou said.  He was about to translocate, but a glare and a sharp nod from Kenshin stopped him.  Sighing, he grabbed Sôjirô again, and the two of them vanished.

 

Kenshin pushed Kaoru into a deeply-cushioned chair and kissed her, slipping his hands into her clothes; catching the idea quickly, she yanked open his top and pressed one hand against his chest, twining the other in his hair.  They were just in time, for at that moment, the door opened to admit the queen, who froze when she saw them.  "Ew," she commented.  Then, sweetly, "I mean, sorry for the intrusion."

 

Kaoru mustered up a glare and fumbled to straighten her top; Kenshin flushed artfully as he straightened and tugged his clothes back into place, giving the queen a sheepish smile.  "Apology accepted.  Good night, Grandmother."

 

"I don't think so," she said with a cool little smile.  "It seems like your cute little make-out sessions are quite intense...."  She glanced meaningfully at the wound on Kenshin's arm, then frowned when he only grinned and playfully licked at the blood.  "I sensed something break," she said shortly.  "You're not trying to escape again, are you?"

 

"Escape?" he said innocently.  "Is this one a prisoner here, then?"

 

She shrugged.  "Only if you choose to see it that way."

 

"A prisoner," Kaoru pointed out, "is a person who is held somewhere against his will."

 

"There you are, then," Titania said sweetly.  "We are certainly not holding either of you here against your will."

 

"You are simply preventing this one from leaving, that you are."

 

Titania sighed.  "Oh Kenshin...why are you being so stubborn about this?  Don't you like it here?"

 

" _I_ don't," Kaoru said.

 

"No one asked you what _you_ liked," Titania snapped.

 

"Neither enjoyment nor comfort is the issue, Grandmother, and you know it," Kenshin said quickly, unwilling to see a clash between the two women.  "This is not a game."

 

"Of course it's not," Titania said in a deadly voice.  She came close and reached out to lay her hand against Kenshin face, gently tracing the red cross with her thumb.  "I know that even more than you.  So why are we playing on different sides?"

 

" _Playing_ on different sides?" Kaoru said significantly.

 

Titania grinned.  "It's all the same to us fae, love."

 

Kenshin reached up and politely removed the queen's hand.  "Grandmother, this one appreciates what you wish to do.  But please, try to respect his wishes--"

 

"It's _you_ I care about, Kenshin," she burst out.  "I _tried_ to hate you!  But I...couldn't.  Not when you refused to hate me in return.  So now my favor shines on you again, yet you wish to return to the shadows!"

 

"This one wishes you to allow him to make his own choices, that he does."

 

"Kenshin," she said desperately, "why do you insist on going?  Your child is safe, he can no longer be harmed."

 

"He's in a _coma_!" Kaoru cried angrily.

 

Titania gave her an annoyed look.  "He sleeps safely, he remains in the world of the living.  What more do you want?"

 

"We want him to be _with us_ , of course!  We want to hug him, to comfort and encourage him, to hear him call us 'Mother' and 'Father'!  We want him to...."  Kaoru couldn't finish, she was crying.

 

"We want him to be free," Kenshin said quietly.

 

Titania rolled her eyes.  "It's not a difficult spell to break, you know - at least for me.  I could revive him easily at any time."

 

Kaoru gasped and raised her head, but Kenshin squeezed her hand warningly.  "No."

 

" _No_?" Kaoru said in shock.  "'No'?  Are you _crazy_ , Kenshin?"

 

He turned his head to look at her.  "There will be a price.  There is always a price."

 

"What price?" she demanded.  "What could you possibly balk at paying, for Kenji's sake?"

 

Titania suddenly giggled.  "Kenshin," she said, her eyes glimmering with mirth, "it's not such a terrible thing, you know."

 

"Watching my son," he said through gritted teeth, "laughing his life away as the love-toy of the Faerie Queen is not something this one will allow."

 

Kaoru made a choking noise.

 

"Even if it means he'll wake up?" Titania said sweetly.

 

"We told you before - we want him to be free.  Not have him awaken only to end up in drugged slavery."

 

"Kenshin," Kaoru whispered.  He looked back at her, and she drew him a little away.  "I hate the thought," she said quickly, still whispering.  "I hate it.  I don't want that for Kenji.  But Kenshin...sleeping the rest of his life, for all practical purposes dead?  I don't know...I don't know; but can't we at least think about it before we refuse?"

 

"Not now," he whispered back.  "Not now, when there is still another option."

 

Hope came into her expression.  "Is there really a way, Kenshin?  A way to bring him back for real?"

 

"Of course there is."  He kissed her.  "That is what this one is fighting so hard for.  Please believe, Kaoru-dono - you will have Kenji back, wholly himself, perfectly sound.  You remember what was promised."

 

She smiled.  Kenshin did not make promises lightly.  "All right.  I trust you," she said again.  She kissed him.  "I love you."

 

Titania couldn't stand it anymore, so she bid them a frosty good night and swept away.

 

When she was gone, Kenshin went and collapsed limply into the chair; Kaoru came back to perch on the arm.  "Sometimes," he mumbled, "I hate this place, but...."

 

"But what?" Kaoru prompted, wishing idly that he'd slip his hands back under her clothes.

 

"The handmaids are hurting," he murmured, staring into the distance.  "The queen is like a spoiled child, desperate for guidance yet determined to refuse it.  The rest of the court is idle and restless...they're so unhappy."

 

Kaoru, looking at him, remembered how the fae were so glad to see Kenshin, with a look in their eyes almost as if they were starving....  She realized, suddenly, that the fae _needed_ him.  "Kenshin," she said firmly, "they're not your responsibility."

 

He lolled his head to the side to look at her, and smiled.  "Yes.  This one has not forgotten.  Kenji _is_ our responsibility--"  He suddenly sat up.  "Kaoru-dono, there is a plan.  This one is in need of your help."

 

Kaoru's eyes lit up, and she slipped down into his lap to listen.

 

_To be continued...._


	27. Chapter 27

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 8 - In which Kenshin and Kaoru put the plan into action.**

 

_"'My tongue is my own,' True Thomas said;_

_'A goodly gift you would give to me!_

_I neither was able to buy nor sell,_

_At fair or tryst where I may be."_

Thomas the Rhymer

 

o.o.o

 

The next morning, Titania was furious when she discovered that the binding spell had been broken, but was surprised and pacified when Kenshin easily agreed to spend another night.  "Just for you, Grandmother," he said with his prettiest smile.  "This one will stay until tomorrow."

 

"Kenshin, _darling_."  Titania couldn't resist giving him a good glomp.  Perhaps he was up to something, but then, so was she - now she had another whole day and night to think of something else to keep him.  "Will you play with me?" she asked eagerly.

 

"Unfortunately," he said, sounding abjectly apologetic, "this one has already agreed to accompany Furulan and the others on today's Hunt, that he has.  Deepest apologies."

 

"Fine," Titania huffed.  "Ungrateful brat."

 

She was startled when he moved close and lifted his face to kiss her cheek.  "Thank you, Grandmother."

 

"K...Kenshin?" she said faintly.

 

He had already turned away to kiss his wife good-bye ( _'You'll be all right, Kaoru-dono?'  'I won't let you down, Kenshin.  Love you.'  'Love you.'_ ), then he turned eagerly to join the impatient, excited group of men.

 

The women watched them mount their horses and ride off, then Titania sighed and turned to Kaoru.  "He's left you again," she said challengingly.

 

Kaoru mustered up a sigh.  "He's always leaving me," she said dolefully.  "I'm going to be so _bored_ all day without him."

 

Titania tapped her finger to her lips thoughtfully.  "I suppose it's beneath your dignity to alleviate such boredom in the company of your rival."

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Is that...an invitation?" she said in disbelief.  This was almost too easy.

 

"Of course not," Titania said quickly, as haughtily as she could.  "Like I'd _want_ to spend the day with an ugly little mortal."

 

Kaoru almost had to clap her hand over her mouth to squash her indignant response.  _Focus, Kaoru-chan, focus._   "Everyone here calls me ugly," she complained.  " _Kenshin_ always says I am the most beautiful woman in the world, but...I mean, is he lying to me?"

 

Titania grinned.  "Of course he is.  Kenshin's only a man, after all, after the same thing as the rest.  He's just much better at making his demand appealing."  She shook her head.  "Such a talent is wasted on that boy.  All the women who would give their voices to have him for just one night, and none of us - of them -" she quickly amended, "can get him to tear his eyes away from a single, unattractive little human girl."

_Focus, Kaoru-chan, focus...._   Sweating with the effort of keeping the smile plastered on her face, Kaoru managed to whine, "There you go again, calling me ugly!  How am I supposed to compete with you fae, anyway?  You're gorgeous, _perfect_.  I wish I could be like that."

 

"Hmph.  Of course we far surpass you mortals in beauty...though," Titania added thoughtfully, "the glamour helps.  I don't know what we'd do without it."

 

"Can glamour," Kaoru asked, interjecting a hopeful note into her voice, "can glamour be used on...I mean, can only the fae use glamour?"

 

Titania's eyes slid to her.  "Hmm...."  She paced around the other woman, eyeing her critically.  Kaoru nervously tried to keep her eyes on the queen, but Titania grabbed her shoulders and forced her back into place.  "Hold still."

 

Kaoru swallowed nervously, her back creeping at the sense of the queen's presence behind her.  Her eyes darted around, looking for Sôjirô, until she told herself firmly that even if he was here as planned, she wouldn't be able to see him.  Kenshin had gotten Chou to help him weave a cloaking spell for her bodyguard; if everything went as planned, Sôjirô should be tailing her the entire day.

 

Titania came back around to face Kaoru and laughed.  "It's doable," she said condescendingly.  "You want us to doll you up for when Kenshin gets back?"

 

"I think," Kaoru said shyly, "that I want to look my best when he finally has to leave for good."

 

Titania's mouth tightened at this, but she merely replied, "All right, then.  Come along, dear.  The handmaids will be delighted."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Slipping away from the Hunt was even easier than he had anticipated.  Once the golden hind was spotted and the hunters were caught up in the excitement of the chase, Kenshin simply signaled his horse to go slower and slower until they were walking, listening to the sound of the others' hoof beats fading into the trees.  Then Kenshin grinned and turned back to the palace.

 

"Figures," his mount muttered.  "Of course _I_ have to get stuck with the boring two-legger.  Get me all excited for the Hunt, but then, oh no, back home we go, when we've barely even begun--"

 

"Apologies," Kenshin said to it, trying unsuccessfully to keep the amusement out of his voice.  "Will sugar and some extra apples make up for it?"

 

"No!" the horse brayed.  Then, as an afterthought.  "Well, maybe a little."

 

"There's always next time," Kenshin said soothingly.  "And just think, you'll never have to put up with this one again."

 

"Yeah, I heard about that," the horse suddenly said.  "Are the rumors true about what you're planning, Cross-face?"

 

"Yes," Kenshin said simply.

 

"Don't understand two-leggers," the horse muttered under its breath, "simply don't understand them at all...."

 

"It's for a foal," Kenji pointed out.

 

"But you're not a female," the horse answered.  "Why should you care?  If anything, it's your mate--"

 

" _No_ ," Kenshin said harshly.  Then, kinder but with no less firmness, "Kaoru-dono is staying out of it, that she is."  He suddenly smiled.  "Besides, she couldn't fulfill the terms even if she wanted to.  It must be this one."

 

"Whatever.  The queen won't be happy, though."

 

"It can't be helped," Kenshin said quietly.  "She made her choice, long ago; she must now bear with the consequences."

 

"None of the fae are used to having to do that," the horse pointed out, "much less their queen."

 

"Perhaps if they all had to do that, then they would not cause so much hurt to others."

 

"Seems like mortals, who _do_ deal with the consequences, cause plenty of hurt."

 

"True."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru could not stop looking at her reflection in the mirror.  She kept touching her face, her hair, marveling at her hands; she looked like a fairy princess.

 

All flaws and blemishes had been covered over.  The blue of her eyes sparkled, its color enhanced, the lashes long and alluring.  Her hair was a wash of soft silk that she could _never_ have produced with the most expensive shampoos on earth.  Her skin glowed with a rosy, invitingly creamy shade of peach; her hands were soft and fine, all calluses and bruises erased; her breasts swelled from a figure that was perfectly sculpted to accommodate a man.  Her clothes rustled with quality, jewels sewn discreetly into the hems, the colors rich and beautiful; she simply could not believe they were still the same old robe she had thrown on the morning she had run after Kenshin.

 

She almost didn't recognize herself, and when she _could_ tear her eyes away from her own unbelievable beauty, it was to look anxiously into that face and search for proof that it was her own.

 

"What do you think," Titania whispered gleefully into her ear.

 

Kaoru turned carefully, almost afraid of upsetting the clothes and the elaborate hairstyle.  "It's so...I just can't believe it!"

 

Excited, unable to glomp her for fear of ruining the glamours, the handmaids danced with delight at their handiwork and hugged each other instead, then shrieked with laughter and sat down to dress each other up as well.

 

"Is this really only magic?" Kaoru said wonderingly, fingering the sleeve of her outfit.  It felt like real silk, the emeralds in the hem were cool and hard under her fingers.

 

"The best," Titania said merrily, now working on her own hair.  The _odango_ buns reminded her abruptly of Tomoe; she set her lips, shook her head wildly to loosen the fair locks, then began pulling them into a different style.

 

Kaoru sighed as she looked down at herself.  She had always, always wanted to look like this.  No matter how many times Yahiko called her "busu-Jooh," sometimes she would lie in bed at nights and watch Kenshin breathing beside her, and trace her fingers over his closed eyelids and imagine that she really was as beautiful as he always claimed she was.

 

She wanted to believe it so badly...sometimes she almost did.  More often, the taunts would pound at her ears and she would grit her teeth in anger, even as tears smarted at her eyes, and know in her heart that it was true.  Ugly, ugly, ugly...not hideous perhaps, not totally loathsome, yet no match for her lovely friend Megumi, or for the elegant enchantress.  No match, humiliatingly, for her own husband, or even for that scythe-wielding assassin who had come after them soon after Shishio's death.

 

"I wish I could be like this forever," she said bleakly.

 

Titania suddenly started, and a smile crept over her face.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin hadn't wanted to risk sneaking back into the palace, so he was hiding out in the stables instead.  The horses made him nervous, peering at him inquisitively, but after a while they lost interest and went back to their meals.  He eventually became so absorbed in what he was doing that he sensed the approaching figures too late.

 

"Ken-chan!"

 

He grunted when someone plowed into him and wrapped slender arms around his neck.  His hands stilled on his work, tense.

 

"Ken-chan!  You're back early!"  Some of the handmaids were swarming around him now in a flock, playing with his hair and sticking little flowers in his clothes and peering with interest at his project.  "What are you making, Ken-chan?" several of them chorused.

 

"Something fun," he answered, keeping his voice light.

 

"It's not very good, is it," one of them observed.

 

"A _kid_ could make one better than that!" another one cried, and laughed.

 

"You are probably right, that you are."  His magic, diluted by so much human blood, was not powerful enough for spells like this.  He sighed and sat back on his heels, causing the girl on his back to shriek and clamp her arms even harder around his throat.  He winced and worked his hand up between his neck and her arms.  "Sara-dono, that is not very comfortable, that it is not."

 

"Sorry, Ken-chan!"

 

"Where is the queen?" he asked, worried that the presence of the handmaids meant she was not far away.

 

"Playing chess with Kaoru-chan," one of them sighed.

 

"So boring!" another whined.  "Chess is a man's game!  Women shouldn't have to think so hard!"

 

"Ken-chan," one of the girls suddenly said, "why are you making a toy like this?"

 

Nine pairs of eyes were suddenly fixed on him, anxious and crafty.  Kenshin realized that he was going to need to do something fast, before they decided to turn him over to the queen.  "This one is making this so that he can leave," he said, looking at them steadily.  "Do you understand?  This one must escape.  He _must_."

 

"Titania won't like it," one of them said worriedly.  "We have to tell her--"

 

Kenshin grabbed her gauzy skirt as she began to rise, allowing his eyes to go big and watery and irresistible.  "Please, Michiko-dono," he whispered.  "Please."

 

"Don't cry, Ken-chan!"

 

He gasped when they suddenly glomped him _en masse_ , he only managed to get free when they realized he couldn't breathe.  "We won't tell, we won't tell!  We promise!"

 

"But you can't go," one of them insisted.  "You can't leave us, Kenshin.  You have to stay here with us _forever_."

 

He looked at them gravely.  "You all claim to care for this one - and yet, by preventing him from leaving, you condemn his son to death."

 

"But we don't care about a little boy we've never seen," one of them said earnestly.  "We care about _you_ , Ken-chan."

 

He gave her such a cold look that they all fell silent and huddled together.  There was an uneasy rustling.

 

"But he's not _dead_ , Ken-chan," one of them finally said.  "He's dreaming, he doesn't even know that anything bad is happening.  He's _happy_!  You should be happy, too, Ken-chan."

 

"Yes, yes!" they cried eagerly.  "Be happy, Ken-chan!"

 

"Happy like you?" he said sadly.

 

"Yes!"

 

"Of course!"

 

His eyes moved over them, over those beautiful faces framed by fragrant blossoms.  "Have any of you," he said slowly, "ever had children?"

 

Most of them cocked their heads in puzzlement, but Aria suddenly went limp and stared at the ground.  Kimiko gasped and pressed her hand against her chest as if it hurt, and Michiko's breathing was coming hard.  "How can you," she rasped, "ask that?"

 

She suddenly snatched up a handful of straw and flung it at him.  "How can you ask such a thing?!" she shouted.  Her flowers were shriveling; she turned away and put her face in her hands and wept.  Aria curled even tighter into herself; Kimiko, eyes glimmering, put her hand on Michiko's knee.  The other maids had drawn back, looking frightened.

 

"Michiko-dono," Kenshin said softly, "Kimiko-dono, Aria-dono...wouldn't you have done anything in your power to save them?"  All three of them were weeping by now.  He felt sick, but forced himself to turn to the others.  "Why do you wear those flowers in your hair?" he asked them.

 

"Because it's more fun that way," Maya said quickly, and the other girls quickly took it up.

 

"Yes, yes!"

 

"It's more fun!"

 

He looked at them.  "Who is it you're forgetting?"

 

They went very still.  More of them were crying now; a few were sullen, the rest distressed.

 

"You're ruining it!" Maya cried.  She reached up for the her flowers, which were wilting a little.  "Stop it!  We'll tell Titania!"

 

"I want to help."  Aria's quavering voice came more clearly than anything else could have.  "I want to help you, Kenshin."

 

"Yes!"  Kimiko took his shoulder.  "Please, let us help."

 

"Yes," Michiko rasped.

 

One of the handmaids reached out for the thing Kenshin had been working on, touching it gently.  "This will not fool the queen for a moment," she said softly.  "We can make a better one."

 

"She'll sense it," Maya objected.  "Our magics are tied to hers, she'll know we made it."

 

"What if we distract her?" someone piped up eagerly.  "We'll make it seem like Ken-chan's with us, so she'll leave him alone!"

 

"Yes, yes!" they all agreed excitedly.

 

"No."

 

They stared at him in astonishment.

 

"But Ken-chan--!"

 

"No."  He was glaring.  "She will find out that you helped this one.  She will be very angry."

 

For a moment, they sat around him, quivering.  Then Maya said strongly, "We will help."

 

"We will help," came Michiko's determined agreement; Aria hid her face against Kenshin's shoulder and whispered, "Yes."

 

Kenshin reached for the flowers in Maya's hair and pulled them away.  "Do not make such promises when your minds are not your own."

 

Maya had made a feeble grab for her flowers, but Kenshin crushed them in his hand and looked at her challengingly.  She met his eyes for a long minute, then said, quietly, her eyes clear at last, "I will help you, Kenshin.  I will endure what must be endured, for your sake."

 

His eyes widened.  He opened his mouth to speak, but one by one, the handmaids were pulling the blossoms from their hair and casting them at his feet.  "We will help you," they said solemnly.  "We give our word."

 

He looked at them helplessly, those faces suddenly deadly serious.  Their fey beauty had somehow faded with the false smiles, but now they looked more...real.  They were looking at him and truly _seeing_ him, for almost the first time he could remember.  "This one cannot allow--"

 

"You can't do it without us," Kimiko said abruptly.  "You need us, Kenshin."

 

"As we said," Aria said in a small voice, "we cannot do this magic for you, and Titania will see the trick at once.  If you don't let us help you, you don't have a chance."

 

When he still hesitated, Sara grinned and picked up two chunks of her hair, flapping them teasingly.  "No flowers, see?  You can't say no."

 

His eyes steeled.  "Yes, this one can, and will.  No."

 

They lifted their voices in protest, but Michiko called to them silently.  _'Sisters, enough.  He will not change his mind, but he cannot stop us once he's gone.'_   The girls laughed and hugged her; Kenshin looked at her suspiciously, but she only smiled.  "Don't worry, Kenshin.  We won't betray you."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

That evening, Kenshin stepped into the main hall, too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice the antics of the handmaids accompanying him.  It was Titania's voice that called him back to the present.  "How was the Hunt, Kenshin?"

 

He blinked up at her.  "The Hunt...?  Oh.  It was good."

 

After a pause, she gestured impatiently.  "Just 'good'?  What else?  How was it, boy?"

 

"Very good."  He wandered up to sit next to her as the tables were being laid out for supper.  One of the court women took the place next to him, and the intensity of her attention on him caused him to glance at her for a moment.  "What is it?"

 

"Um," the woman mumbled.  She was quite extraordinarily beautiful, but it was a result of being caked with glamour - Kenshin was having a hard time holding back a sneeze.  "How do I look, Kenshin?"

 

"Very nice," he told her politely.  He sighed and put his chin on his hand, thinking of the night ahead.  He would have to make sure Kaoru was taken care of, and make sure he was prepared for the journey without the queen noticing, and--

 

"Kenshin."

 

He frowned, then tried to hide his irritation.  "Do I know you, miss?"

 

She gaped at him.  "Well, I should _hope_ so!" she finally gasped indignantly.

 

He stared at her in confusion as the queen and the handmaids laughed in the background.  Then his eyes widened.  "Kaoru-dono!!"

 

She glanced away, a rosy blush spreading up into her cheeks, then looked back at him with a shy smile.  "Well?"

 

He turned furiously to the queen.  "What did you do to her?"

 

"Nothing!" Titania insisted.  "Isn't she lovely, Kenshin?"

 

"Take it off!  _Now_!"

 

"Glad to oblige!" Titania laughed, and reached to undo the fastenings of her clothes, pretending to misunderstand the order.

 

Impatient with her antics, Kenshin turned back to Kaoru and touched her face, pouring magic over her.  The glamours wrinkled and began to peel away; Kaoru gasped at the stinging sensation and tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go.  "Kenshin!" she cried.  "Stop!"

 

"Stop, stop!" cried the handmaids in dismay, now adorned with fresh flowers.  "You're supposed to kiss her, silly!"

 

"So she can stay that way forever!" one of them piped up, then shrank back at the glare from Titania.

 

He had gotten most of it off by now.  Kaoru twisted out of his grip and watched as he cast something like a sparkling mantle to the floor, which quickly crumbled to dust.  "You ruined it," she said reproachfully.  "I wanted--"

 

"You wanted something that was not meant for mortals," he said firmly.  "Don't you realize it was another trap?"

 

Kaoru's eyes widened, and she turned indignantly to the queen, who shrugged.  "You _said_ you wanted to be beautiful forever."

 

"She already _is_ beautiful," Kenshin growled.  "Don't you ever touch her with glamour again."

 

Kaoru was shaking, torn by mixed emotions.  "Kenshin...."

 

He opened his mouth angrily, but then stopped at the sight of her tormented expression.  "Kaoru-dono," he finally said, forcing himself to calm down.  "It's all right, there's no harm done.  Sit down.  It's all right," he said again.  Slowly, she lowered herself into the chair beside him; he kept hold of her hand.

 

Unsurprisingly, supper that night was a rather sullen affair.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

That night, Kaoru was half-roused from sleep by the sensation of Kenshin leaving the bed.  Her cheek tingled; had he just kissed her there?  "K'nsh'n?" she mumbled muzzily.  Her eyes seemed to be stuck closed, and she was too sleepy to move.

 

His movements paused.  "Kaoru-dono."  His voice was so soft, a whisper in the darkness.  She felt his fingers on her face, gently brushing aside a clump of sweaty hair.  "This one loves you, so much."

 

Her nose crinkled; it was an odd thing to hear from a man who was getting up to use the chamber pot.  But it was a nice thing to hear, so she attempted to kiss the fingers on her face though she was too tired to be very successful in her aim.  "L've you too," she mumbled, and fell back asleep before she heard him lie down again.

 

Kenshin stood staring down at her for a long time.  He was fully-dressed, the sakabatô at his waist; the chamber pot remained untouched under the bed.  Then he forced himself to turn away.  After that, it was fairly easy to go to the door, and open it, and step through, and close it so quietly behind him that Kaoru would not have heard a sound even if she had been able to listen for it.

 

_To be continued...._


	28. Chapter 28

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 9 - In which Kenshin and Kaoru travel to the Unseelie court.**

 

_"Out then spoke an old grey knight,_

_Looking over the castle wall,_

_And said, Alas, fair Janet, for thee,_

_But we'll be blamed all."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

Kaoru yawned and stretched, and was disappointed but not surprised to find herself alone in the bed.  After a moment, she sighed and rolled to her feet, dressing unhurriedly and combing her fingers through her hair before shuffling out of the bedroom.

 

Sôjirô was leaning against the wall, keeping watch.  He smiled when he saw her.  "Good morning, Kaoru-Jooh."

 

"'Morning," she said dully.  "What time is it?"

 

"Just after 10:00," he told her.

 

She sighed again, wondering morosely if her husband was still around, or if he had left without saying good-bye.  "Is Kenshin still here?"

 

He shrugged and said carefully, "He stepped out earlier this morning - didn't say where he went, though."

 

Kaoru nodded and went in search of breakfast, with Sôjirô trailing her good-humoredly.  After she had eaten, she found Titania out on the main terrace.

 

The Faerie Queen was frowning as she sipped from a goblet of juice and gazed far out into the gardens, where the handmaids were frolicking.  She did not acknowledge Kaoru, except to complain, "He's been dancing out there all morning."

 

Kaoru shaded her eyes and peered out at the handmaids.  Now that she looked closely, she could make out the red-haired figure flitting to and fro among them.  "Is that Kenshin?" she said in surprise.

 

"It would _seem_ so," Titania said darkly.  She tossed her cup aside (it bounced to the floor as an acorn cap) and marched out resolutely.  Kaoru accompanied her, feeling uneasy.

 

As the two women approached, Kenshin noticed them with alarm and spun away.  Titania looked angry at first, but then suddenly laughed.  "Little mortal queen, get around on the other side, it can't avoid both of us."

 

"My husband's not an 'it'!"

 

"Of course not, dear," Titania murmured soothingly.  They circled around him; the handmaids giggled madly and gracefully got in the way, leaping and spinning right under the noses of the two queens.  Titania flung them aside, where they subsided sheepishly, and Kaoru guiltily began to shove her way through them as well.  At last they cornered him, and he turned from one to the other with a distressed look.  "Big magic!" he declared to Titania, "Bad!"  Then he shot a nervous look at Kaoru.  "Kaoru-dono!  Much love!  Go away!"

 

Kaoru gaped at him.  His appearance was very odd, with a smudginess about the edges and a soft, slightly bloated look about the skin.  His features were not defined well, his body somewhat disproportioned; she got the supremely odd sense that she was looking at a doll rather than a person.

 

"Oh yes, love," Titania told him, "very bad."  Then she seized him and pressed her lips hard to his; he stared at her with wide open eyes, unresponsive and unresisting, hands fluttering in distress.

 

For about two seconds, Kaoru's body went numb with shock, and her throat felt completely blocked with rage.  "G...Get - your hands - _off him_!"  The words came out in a ragged whisper.  A silent scream was roaring in her ears, and she felt herself take a stumbling step forward.

 

Titania completely ignored her.  She pulled away and gazed into literally melting blue eyes.  "How fitting," she said bitterly, "that the only kiss I can claim from you tastes only of desperation and childish magic."  She released him gently, and as her hands lifted away, he dissolved into the air and vanished, except for a strand of red hair which drifted to the ground.

 

Kaoru gasped and fell to her knees, feeling about senselessly in the grass, as if she could find him there.  "What...what...?!"

 

"He's long gone," Titania said flatly.  "Probably left some time between midnight and dawn."

 

"What are you talking about?!"  A renewed surge of rage washed over her.  "You kissed him!  You _kissed_ him!  _My_ husband!"

 

"I kissed a simulacrum," Titania said contemptuously.  "And a badly-made one at that, though I suppose I can't blame the boy for his mixed-blood magic."  Her fists clenched and she took a step.  "Fine!" she shouted into the distance.  "Go, then!  I tried, and that is more than you had any right to expect!  It's _not my fault_!"  She whirled stormily away, then stopped when she saw the handmaids, who shrank away fearfully.

 

"We were forced," one of them said in a quavering voice.  Immediately, the others took it up.  "We were forced, we were forced to!  We would never have crossed you, Merciful Queen!"

 

Michiko slowly reached up and drew the violets out of her hair, letting them drop to the ground.  "We helped him willingly," she said quietly.  "Let your wrath fall on me alone, my lady."

 

Titania suddenly smiled.  "Very well, then.  Come attend to me in my chambers, Michiko-chan."  The girl wordlessly came near, and Titania took her arm to translocate.  As they vanished, a sheet of fiery magic flashed through the group; Kaoru only felt it sting briefly before it passed on, but it seemed to cling to the handmaids like cobwebs.  Their dancing now was a maddened expression of pain, until the furious spell died away and left them sobbing in miserable heaps.

 

Stunned, Kaoru knelt by the nearest girl, her hands hovering uncertainly.  "I'm sorry...I don't know what to do--  Please, what can I do to help you?"

 

"My primroses," the girl moaned despairingly.  "She's burned my flowers...I need them!  Oh, please, I need them _back_!"  She did not seem to see Kaoru, her glazed eyes wandered restlessly.  She translocated, so slowly that her body took several seconds to fade away, and Kaoru looked around to find that the others were doing the same, crawling away to comforting shelters.

 

Kaoru was left alone.  Kenshin was gone...she had no friend in this place, except--  "Sôjirô," she whispered, scrambling back to her feet.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

He was in the last stretch of woods before the terrain opened out on Unseelie lands.  There was a sudden rustling among the leaves.  Kenshin laid a hand on his sword hilt, then took it away again when Tomoe burst through the trees, halting when their eyes met.  "Why have you come?" she asked coldly.

 

"You know why."

 

"Enishi wants you dead.  You know that," she said, moving forward.

 

Kenshin studied her carefully, wondering how much she knew.  "It doesn't matter.  There's something this one is much more concerned about, Tomoe."  As he looked at her, she suddenly drew in a breath, knowing already what he would say.  "Tomoe...why did you do it?"

 

It took her a while to be able to answer in a level voice.  Her eyes hurt.  "I shouldn't have.  I knew even as I spoke the words that it was wrong...no matter what Enishi had promised me."

 

Kenshin's eyes widened.  "He...he has found your heart?"

 

Tomoe looked at him silently, her eyes glistening.

 

"Tomoe," he said slowly, confused.  "This one does not understand."  He was married now.  The door had closed on his future as Tomoe's husband, and she was not the kind of person who would force her way over another woman's rightful claim.

 

"Think about it," she whispered brokenly.  When she saw the realization in his expression, she put her hands over her face.  "Forgive me...."

 

He moved to put his arms around her, full of happiness for her sake, and compassion, and an unsettling hint of irrational jealousy.

 

"I asked Enishi to let me cast the spell myself," she murmured thickly.  "He couldn't understand why I allowed you to preserve Kenji for fourteen mortal years.  I thought Kenji would be safe until I could convince Enishi of the truth - but then Kenji drew the sakabatô."  She took a shuddering breath.  "It wasn't worth it.  Even for Akira-san's sake, it wasn't worth Kenji's life."

 

"No," Kenshin said softly, "it wasn't."

 

At that moment, a blade was inserted between them, the sharp edge turned toward Kenshin's throat.  "Get your hands off her," a wrathful young voice commanded.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Look, don't _cry_ about it," Chou said in exasperation.  "Those girls are a sneaky lot, they're always getting in trouble for something or other."  His reassurances did not appear to be helping.  "Look, they're okay!  They actually got off easy, you know.  You should see some of the stuff dished out at the Unseelie court."

 

Kaoru sniffled.  "I miss Kenshin," she said in a small voice.  Sôjirô patted her shoulder sympathetically.

 

Chou looked uncomfortable.  "Look...um, look here; Battousai wants you to be safe, right?  So yeah, I'll take you back home to your kids - the kids you made with him, remember? - and everything will be fine.  Okay?"

 

"I want to go after him," Kaoru decided.

 

Sôjirô's eyes flickered thoughtfully, and Chou looked alarmed.  "Look, Jooh - I _have_ to take you back home.  Battousai will have my neck if anything happens to you, and Bamboo Curtain Head is expecting you."

 

Kaoru said impatiently, "Then let me talk to Bamboo--  I mean, Saitô."

 

"Aw, c'mon, Jooh--!"

 

"Chou," she said sternly, " _Now._ "

 

Chou looked unhappily at his queen.  "Fine."

 

Kaoru settled the headband over her hair rather nervously.  "Saitô?" she said uncertainly.

 

"Hold up, I've gotta connect you first."  Chou took her hands and cast out his magic like a wire between the worlds, navigating through the shifting time boundaries.  "Oi."

_"What now?"_

 

"The queen wants to talk to you."

_"The fae or the tanuki?"_

 

Chou grinned.  "The second one," he answered prudently.

 

"I heard that, Saitô!" Kaoru burst out, still in shock over being able to hear Saitô's voice from a whole different world.

_"What do you want?"_

 

Kaoru shook her head.  He was still as rude as ever.  "I wanted to tell you that I'm not coming home yet.  I'm going after Kenshin, and we'll be coming home _together_."

 

There was an exhalation; Kaoru supposed he was smoking.  _"So you figured out what that fool is planning, eh?"_

 

A stab of fear shot through her, but she fiercely rejected it.  "What?"

 

There was a pause.  _"Are you telling me,"_ he said slowly, _"that you_ don't _know what he's planning, and you intend to throw yourself in the middle of it?"_

 

"So what if I am!" Kaoru burst out.  "This is _my family_ we're talking about, I won't sit on the sidelines and expect Kenshin to do everything alone!"

 

There was a sigh.  _"With rulers like this, it's a wonder the country has lasted this long...."_

 

"What was that?" she said challengingly.

 

 _"Listen,"_ he said contemptuously.  _"Battousai knows what he's doing, I'll give him that much.  You, on the other hand, don't.  Yet you intend to interfere, even if it means the complete failure of everything you've set out to do in that world."_

 

"What do you mean?" Kaoru said hotly.  "Are you saying that if I go after Kenshin, then we won't be able to save Kenji?"

 

_"I have no idea.  Neither do you.  That's the point."_

 

"Why can't you give me a straight answer!"

 

 _"Because I don't have one,"_ he said harshly.  _"This decision is yours."_   Then his tone lightened, as if he was grinning.  _"Besides, it makes no difference to me.  Whatever happens, there's always the prince.  Since he is unable to rule at the moment, someone will have to be regent on his behalf, should something happen to his idiot parents."_

 

"You had better not be implying that _you_ intend to steal the throne!"

_"Of course not,"_ he answered smoothly.  _"A wolf's place is in the shadows, after all.  So, shall I be expecting you soon, or no?"_

 

Kaoru was silent, caught in painful indecision.  Finally she spoke, her words soft.  "You said...you _implied_ that if I knew what Kenshin was up to, I would go after him."  She waited for a response, but there was none.  "Well?"

_"I can't control how you choose to interpret what I say."_

 

"Argh!  Fine then!  No, I'm not coming home!"  She abruptly cut herself short, breathless with the declaration.

_"Hmph.  As you will."_   A soft hissing filled her ears as the connection broke and Chou took his headband back.

 

"There.  Happy now?"

 

"Not yet," Kaoru said, sounding more decisive than she felt.  "I don't know where the Unseelie court is."

 

"You can't be serious!  I am _not_ taking you there!"

 

"You most certainly are!"

 

"They threw me out!  Titania'll kill me if she hears I went back!  And who knows what _they'll_ do to me if I dare show my face there again?"

 

She shook her head in exasperation.  "Fine, then just lead me far enough until I can find it myself."

 

He folded his arms.  "No way."

 

Kaoru narrowed her eyes.  "You want me to tell Titania that you work for Saitô Hajime?"

 

Chou slapped his hands over his eyes.  Yep, agreeing to assassinate Himura Kaoru back then had definitely been the biggest mistake of his life.

 

"Kaoru-Jooh," Sôjirô now spoke up.  "Let him go, he's helped us enough.  I've been to the Unseelie court, I can take you there myself."

 

Chou sighed in relief, and Kaoru looked at her bodyguard in surprise.  "Sôjirô...you'd go against Kenshin's orders?"

 

He smiled, and gently raised her hand to his lips to kiss it.  "My first allegiance is to you, Kaoru-Jooh," he said softly.  "If you are determined to do this, then I will help you."  His smile turned mischievous.  "Besides, I can get you there _much_ faster than this slowpoke.  The king has such a head start on us, after all."

 

Kaoru threw her arms around his neck gratefully.  "Sôjirô!  Thank you, thank you so much!"

 

Chou shook his head.  "You _really_ don't know what you're getting into, do you...oh well.  Not my problem."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin spent so long staring at the ice sprite, sizing him up, taking in the jealousy and passion and nervousness, that it was only when Tomoe gave him a surreptitious poke in the ribs that he realized he was still holding her.  He quickly let go and stepped back, smiling at the sprite.  "Forgive this one...Akira, is it?  No harm was intended."

 

"You," Akira growled, taking Tomoe's arm and pulling her behind him, "have caused enough grief here.  Go back to your _wife_ and leave us be."

 

Kenshin saw the tip of the sword trembling, ever so slightly, and he saw the fire in the man's ice-blue eyes that drove him to nevertheless challenge a warrior who had once been the greatest of Shishio Makoto's deadly assassins.  "This one is happy for you," he said sincerely.  "For both of you."  He carefully stepped past them and walked on.

 

"Where are you going?" Akira demanded.

 

"He has business in the Unseelie court," Tomoe reminded him as they followed after.

 

Akira stared at Kenshin's back as the other man walked ahead.  "You mean you're really going to go along with your enemy's plans?"

 

"This one has no choice," Kenshin said grimly.

 

"You would do that for a boy you don't even know?"

 

"He is this one's son," was the icy response.  Then, more gently, "If you had children, you would understand."

 

"What I don't _understand_ ," Akira burst out, "is why a fickle half-breed would care about a virtual stranger when he once abandoned a fiancée he claimed to love!"

 

Kenshin's shoulders went stiff, but his tone was mild when he said, "So you would devote yourself to her, whether or not her contract with the Seelie queen is ever broken?"

 

"Of course," Akira said firmly.  "Tomoe-san is a treasure among women, brave and wise and beautiful...my life is hers, I don't care if I can never have her as my wife."

 

After a moment, Kenshin murmured, "It seems you are a stronger man than this one, then."

 

Tomoe thought of Kenshin's reluctance, all those years ago, to let her go.  She thought of the tears she had seen Akira weep when he thought no one could see, and she knew that both men were lying.  But they were not aware of it, and she said nothing.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

When they were close, Sôjirô stopped running and carefully let Kaoru down from his back.  She was so dizzy from the insane speed of their travel that she stumbled and barely managed to keep her feet, even with Sôjirô supporting her.  "Kaoru-Jooh, are you all right?"

 

"Give me a minute," she mumbled.  When she finally straightened and began walking forward, she was able to focus on the dark palace that towered up before them.  It was a forbidding structure, black with turrets that twisted and seemed to be in different places whenever she glanced away and looked back.  They came to a halt some distance before the gates, before which hovered a dark mist that stretched away in both directions.

 

"Well," Sôjirô remarked.  "This certainly wasn't here before.  Let me check it out, Kaoru-Jooh."

 

"Hurry," Kaoru said nervously, her glance darting from side to side as if she expected ugly monsters to come jumping out at her any second.  Sôjirô nodded, then seemed to vanish in a slight rush of air.

 

Shaking her head, still not used to that crazy speed of his, Kaoru found herself pacing after only a few minutes, from nervousness and impatience.  What was she going to do now that she was here, anyway?  The things she had heard about the Unseelie court had not painted a very pleasant picture in her imagination...what did Kenshin mean to do here?

 

"Sôjirô, where _are_ you?" she grumbled.  How long did it take to examine a magical trap?

 

Kaoru bit her lip, staring at the unmoving fog before her.  Kenshin was in there, somewhere.  He had been gone for hours and hours....  Were things going the way he had planned, or was he in trouble?

 

"Sôjirô!" she suddenly shouted.  "Sôjirô!"  There was no answer.

 

Kaoru's breath was coming hard now as she fought to stay logical.  Kenshin knew what he was doing, he was comfortable in this world.  He wasn't infallible, though.  He had had to struggle against the Seelie queen, his own grandmother.  What would happen to him here, among his enemies?

 

"Sôjirô!" she screamed again, nearly stomping with impatience.  Panic was beating at her mind, as if begging, _'Why are you just sitting around?!  Why aren't you going to Kenshin?  What if he needs you?!'_

 

"Sôjirô, if you're not here in one minute, I'm going without you!"

 

For a little longer, she forced herself to stay still, to wait.  Then she could not stand it anymore.  There was no other way in - she seized her bokutô and walked resolutely into the fog.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin stopped short when they came out into the open, and it was at once obvious why.  A monstrous figure was approaching them, so enormous that it towered up into the sky despite the distance between it and them.  Yet each step it took brought it closer by such great increments that it had already halfway reached them in the time it took to identify the figure and observe the nature of its progress.

 

Kenshin clicked his sword loose from its sheath.  "Tomoe," he murmured warily, his eyes fixed on the giant.

 

"It's all right," she told him quietly.  "Fuji-san will not harm us."

 

"Wouldn't mind if he stepped on Battousai," Akira grumbled under his breath, but subsided when Tomoe gave him a little kick in the ankle.  The three of them held their ground, heads tipped up, riveted by the sight.

 

In less than a minute, Fuji was kneeling before them, covering them with his immense shadow.  "You left," he rumbled.

 

"Temporarily," Tomoe called up to him, before either of the men could figure out whom the giant addressed.  "I meant to return."

 

"Mm."  Fuji's eyes fell on Kenshin, and narrowed in a frown.  "I cannot see you well, swordsman.  Permit me to take a liberty."

 

Kenshin swallowed to moisten his dry throat.  The giant's face was lined with hardship, but free of all sly or malicious expression.  In any case, Tomoe seemed to trust him.  "All right."

 

He watched the huge hand descend, and stepped carefully into the callused palm when it came to rest on the ground close by.  He put a hand on the thumb to steady himself as Fuji lifted him.  The giant obviously tried to be gentle, though the wind from the rising movement sent Kenshin's hair whipping wildly at his face.  When they were eye-to-eye, they studied each other warily for a minute.

 

The afternoon sunshine glinted on the swordsman's bright red hair and highlighted the deep color of the cross-shaped mark on his face.  The giant's hugeness was grotesque, every tiny flaw and blemish mercilessly magnified, yet the features were pleasantly symmetrical and well-formed, the long chunks of shaggy hair shining silver in the light.  Fuji could have been a handsome man.

 

Kenshin was startled to realize that the metal links circling the giant's neck, which had seemed like ornamentation from afar, were from this proximity clearly a method of restraint.  Who had dared to chain this creature?  Was he a prisoner or a slave?

 

The rumbling voice came like thunder.  "You are the Battousai everyone has been speaking of."

 

"What of it?" Kenshin said gravely.

 

"Your strength is legendary.  I had...foolishly...hoped to cross swords with you one day."  Kenshin's eyes widened a little.  "Now I shall never have the chance."

 

"No," Kenshin agreed, "but even if you had found such an opportunity, this one would have declined the honor, that he would."

 

A grin quirked the corner of the huge mouth.  "Are you afraid of me?"

 

Kenshin grinned back.  "Is there reason to be?"

 

The smile vanished.  Fuji's gaze was piercing.  "Look at me."

 

"This one is looking," Kenshin said softly, "and he thinks that a sword at the waist should not be paired with a chain around the neck."

 

"So a slave has no right to claim a warrior's title?" the giant rumbled dangerously.

 

Kenshin smiled sadly.  "As one who also once wielded his sword for a cruel master, this one thinks, rather, that the sword of a warrior has no right to be bound to dishonorable duties.  How many have you killed with your sword, Fuji?  How many of them were true opponents?  If your life is anything like this one's once was...the answer is, 'Not many.'"

 

There was a silence.  "You are free now," Fuji whispered, tight with anger.

 

"Then you should be, as well."

 

"You're not a monster!"  And with the outburst, the hand suddenly closed around Kenshin, threatening to squeeze the life out of him.  Tomoe cried out below.  "So easy, Battousai," he murmured, watching the swordsman gasp for breath but otherwise offer no struggle.

 

"For a monster, yes," Kenshin managed to say, though the challenge in his expression was clear and unwavering.  "Are you really a monster, Fuji?"

 

The moment lengthened, and no one moved or spoke.  Then the giant's wondering whisper came like the sighing of wind. "It's a choice."

 

"It's a choice for _all_ of us," Kenshin said quietly.

 

Another smile came to that great face, softening it, bringing out some of its hidden beauty.  "I hope you are right."  The fingers relaxed; Kenshin fell with a gasping rush of breath, stumbling to his knees in the giant's palm.  Fuji set him back down so gently that he was able to catch his breath even in the long transition.  He had fully composed himself by the time Akira (and Tomoe...but it was Akira who mattered) could see him, and he stepped back to the ground as if nothing had happened.

 

"Oneesan," Fuji murmured, though even his quietest voice made the trees rustle.  "Have you found a place yet?"

 

"Not yet," Tomoe said unhappily.  "You would fare even worse in the human realm than you would here.  The only place I could think of would be the wilds of Faerie, but it's very dangerous."

 

"I think I can take care of myself," Fuji said politely.  Akira snorted in amused agreement.

 

"But it would be lonely," Tomoe said softly.  Then her eyes widened, and she turned to Kenshin.  "Kenshin--  Do you know a place?  Somewhere Fuji can live once he is free?"

 

"Well...."  Kenshin thought for a while.  "A possibility occurs to this one, but...."  He smiled a little and shook his head.  "Permission would have to be asked first, and this one can no longer do so.  Perhaps if you petitioned him, Tomoe, Hiko Seijûrô would be willing to make an arrangement."

 

"Hiko Seijûrô..." she mused.

 

Kenshin suddenly blinked.  "How long have we been talking here?"

 

"Not long," Tomoe said in puzzlement.  Then she stiffened in realization.  "I do not favor crafty spell-work."

 

"Forgive this one for being suspicious, but he has recently had too much experience with deliberately-planned delays," Kenshin said dryly.

 

"If I thought it would stop you," Tomoe said unhappily, "and if I wasn't in such debt to Kenji...I would be doing my best to delay you as well."

 

Akira was looking hard at her.  "You really do like him, don't you."

 

Tomoe smiled, took his arm, and gave it a little pat.  "Jealous?"

 

"Any man would be!"

 

Her smile disappeared.  "This is not some mere rivalry, Akira-san.  This concerns life and death."

 

Akira looked a little ashamed, but said nothing.

 

"Battousai," Fuji said, "will you really agree to cooperate with the king?  For the sake of this boy?"

 

"I must."

 

Fuji sighed regretfully. "Very well, then.  I will take you, if you are in such haste.  That is, if you are not adverse to traveling in such a way."

 

A smile broke over Kenshin's face.  At the sight of that relief, Tomoe felt like she wanted to cry, and Akira felt restless and somehow unsatisfied.  He would do anything, anything for Tomoe; apparently, Battousai would go to great lengths for a loved one as well.  It hurt Tomoe, and Akira didn't know whether he wanted his rival to succeed or fail.

 

Fuji carried all of them, Akira and Tomoe in his right hand and Kenshin in his left.  The motion, though windy, was quite steady, and Kenshin suddenly wondered if the giant was accustomed to carrying people of ordinary size.  He worried a little that having both hands occupied left Fuji open to possible attack, but they reached the palace quickly and without incident.

 

"Thank you, Fuji," Kenshin called up.

 

"Mm," was the only response as he set them down.  A shadow had seemed to close over his face now that he was back in such close proximity to his place of bondage.

 

Kenshin entered the outer courts with his head held high, gazing straight ahead.  Tomoe flanked him with the same resolute dignity, so that Akira was forced to accompany them.

 

The fae who rushed out to meet them were all, regardless of dismay or anger or delight, in a state of great excitement.  Kenshin continued calmly on, appearing heedless of the shouts, the blows, the tears; the pixie who landed on his shoulder to snuggle against his neck, the lutin who clung to his back and snarled at those with ugly intentions.

 

"Why have you come, Battousai?!"

 

"Why did you stay so long away, love?"

 

"At last!  I've been looking forward to this, heheh...."

 

"Put that away, stupid, the king'll kill you if you hurt him too early."

 

"Niisan!  How could you?!"

 

"I hate you!"

 

"Come to bed with me while there's still time...."

 

"Oh, YAY!  Come play, come play!"

 

Curses, laughter, threats.  Kenshin made no response to any of it, though he nearly chuckled to find that he felt almost as at home here as he did in the Seelie court.  He paced on, until the great doors to the throne room opened, revealing the rest of the court waiting with Enishi at their head.

 

A tiny glittering figure came rushing up to Kenshin's face.  "Himura!  What are you doing here?"

 

"This one could ask the same of you, Misao-dono."

 

"Because Aoshi-sama is here, obviously," the Seelie creature snorted.  "But you, Himura!  I heard what the king means you to do - don't tell me you're going along with it?!"

 

He affectionately cupped a hand around her tiny body, though he was careful not to touch her.  "You forsook much for love, Misao-dono.  Surely you understand."

 

"But it's not the same _thing_!" she protested.  He only smiled and moved on.  After staring after him for a moment, Misao's eyes narrowed in determination and she hurried to perch on Kenshin's other shoulder, where she and the pixie made faces at each other across his throat.  They were the only two who remained; the lutin, at the forbidding sight of the Faerie King on his throne, scampered away in terror.  Kenshin came to a halt before the throne, glaring.

 

"You sure took your sweet time," Enishi commented.  Tomoe continued on past Kenshin and made her deliberate way up to the dais, where she seated herself beside her brother.  Akira quietly came to stand in attendance.  Enishi's eyes moved toward her briefly.  "You had some fun with him, Sis?"

 

"He's no fun at all nowadays," she answered calmly, her face once more closed on her true thoughts.  "But I can wait."  A ripple of ugly laughter went through the hall and then died down.

 

"So...Battousai," Enishi said conversationally, though his eyes gleamed.  "You ready?  Ready to release little Kenji, so that your family can live happily - ever - after?"

 

"Don't do it, Himura!" Misao whispered urgently.

 

He ignored her.  "Enishi.  Where is your sister's heart?"

 

Enishi went very still.  "What does that have to do with anything?" he snarled.

 

"You promised her freedom once your revenge was complete," Kenshin said quietly.  "Where is it, Enishi?"

 

"That's something you don't need to know--"  Enishi suddenly grinned.  "For now, at least."

 

At that moment, a small crowd of fae came rushing excitedly into the hall.  "She came!  She came!" they cried delightedly.  "She's caught in the Fog, the stupid little mortal!"

 

Kenshin's heart lurched; both Enishi and Tomoe were on their feet.  "Who is it?" Kenshin said harshly.

 

"Guess, guess!" they shouted back gleefully.  He pushed through them and, followed by the court, raced for the palace gates.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

She couldn't see anything except the fog, cloudy grayness in every direction.  She was afraid to take a step, fearful of going the wrong way, of walking unknowingly into danger....  What was this place, anyway?  Had she fallen asleep, was it all in her mind?  Was it an illusion she was trapped in, while anything she did would be reflected in the real world?  "Help me!" she suddenly cried.  "Someone help!  Kenshin!  Kenshin!  _Kenshin_!"

 

"Stop that."  A forbidding figure stepped out of the mist.  For a moment, Kaoru was delighted to see Kenshin, but something about him made her shrink back.  His eyes were cold and hard, his face frightening in its dangerous misery.  His hair was in a ponytail, trailing down almost to his waist.

 

"Battousai," she whispered.

 

"You shouldn't be here, Kaoru-hime," he told her.

 

"I-I know."  She swallowed.  "Will you...show me the way out?"

 

Without moving, he seemed to withdraw from her even more.  "I don't know the way out."

 

Kaoru shivered to hear the word _ore_ rather than the now-comforting _sessha_.

 

"Such gloomy faces!"  Another red-haired figure pranced out of the fog, clothed in a suit of leaves, the fiery locks tangled with twigs and glimmering like a halo around the breathtakingly pretty face.  The birthmark was not as livid as Battousai's, but still showed clearly against the fair skin.  "Kaoru-chan, Battou-kun, you two look like you're ready for a downpour at any minute!"

 

"Who are you?" Battousai asked warily.

 

His fey look-alike grinned and draped his arms around him.  "I'm _you_ , of course, silly!"

 

Kaoru gaped at him - she had _never_ heard Kenshin refer to himself as _boku_.

 

"Goodness, this certainly is an odd situation."  Kaoru turned helplessly to find a third Kenshin appearing behind her, with huge lovely eyes and a long ponytail like Battousai's, though somewhat thicker.  His clothes were patched and frayed, as if he was some sort of wanderer.  "Oro?  Kaoru-dono, this one thinks you don't look well, that he does not."

 

"Kenshin!" Kaoru said gratefully, but then a little red fox came bounding up.  "Kaoru-dono!" it said anxiously, to her shock.  "Are you all right?"

 

"A talking fox!" she gasped, then winced.  She was in Faerie, after all.  "Sorry."

 

"Oro?"  The fox glanced back along itself, whipping its tail close to its nose for a better look.  "Ah."

 

"Whee, so many of us!" the fae laughed.  "Oi!" he shouted into the fog, "any more coming?"

 

Somber footsteps approached, and yet another Kenshin became visible through the drifting mists.  He looked almost exactly like the other humans, except that his hair was cut short and his eyes were not so wide-open and girlish.  "This will make things difficult," he commented as he surveyed his other selves.  "Kaoru-dono, this one is afraid you will have to choose between us, that you will."

 

"Oooh!  Pick me, pick me!" the fae insisted, waving a free arm in the air.  Battousai frowned and tried to nudge him away, but the fae laughed and only latched on more firmly.

 

"Kenshin, what's going on?" Kaoru said, turning in confused circles.  Five sets of almost identical blue eyes gazed at her, longing for her.

 

"It seems only one of us is the true - or rather, truest - Himura Kenshin, that it does," mused the easy-going rurouni.

 

"It's obviously me," the fae asserted.

 

"No," Battousai said in a low voice, his eyes hidden.  "It's me.  My true nature...of course it would boil down to this."

 

"No!" the fox insisted.  "This one's true self is not a monster!"

 

"What do you mean 'this one'?" said the rurouni in confusion.  "You're obviously one of the illusions."

 

"Now, wait a minute," said the serious, short-haired one.  "You can't make something out of nothing.  Obviously, each of us reflects an aspect of this one's--  rather, of Himura Kenshin's true nature."

 

"But I'm the real one," Battousai insisted, "I _know_ it."

 

"Each of us feels that he is Himura Kenshin," the fox said slowly, "because, in a way, we are."

 

"So how is that going to work?' the fae pouted.  "Kaoru-chan can't take home five husbands!"  He suddenly looked at the fox and snickered.

 

The creature gave him a cold look.  "This one--  Kenshin obviously isn't literally an animal."

 

"Are any of you going to get around to explaining this to me?" Kaoru huffed.

 

"Kaoru-dono," the rurouni said apologetically, "this place is meant to confuse and entrap.  This one--  each of us came to be your guide, but we did not anticipate this, that we did not."

 

"You will have to choose," the fox said gravely.

 

"But choose carefully," said the short-haired one.  "We are all Himura Kenshin, but some more, and some less.  If you choose the one from whom all of us were formed, we will merge and become one man again.  If you choose one of the copies...."

 

The fae made a throat-slitting motion and gave her a nervous smile.

 

"Kaoru-dono," the fox said softly.  "If a mistake is made, none of us will be able to escape this place."

 

Kaoru looked around at them.  "Well," she said after a moment, raising her hand to point, "it obviously can't be--"

 

Quick as a flash, the fae was half behind her and pressing his hands over her mouth.  "Careful, love," he whispered in her ear.  "You wouldn't want to make the wrong choice, would you?  After all, I'm the grandson of the Faerie Queen herself.  I spent half my childhood in the Seelie court...it was my only refuge.  I once loved a princess of the fae.  Who are you to say that I'm just another mortal like you?"

 

He grinned, even as he heard her breath coming hard.  "You've noticed, haven't you?  You're not the same as you were when you were seventeen, you're getting older.  Still lovely, oh yes, but of course it won't last forever, like it will for me.  Surely you've seen that though I am so much older than you, my face is as fresh as ever, my hair as bright?  I don't look a day over eighteen, and you know it."

 

The others could not hear his words, but they understood Kaoru's tears well enough.  "Get away from her," the fox snarled, and seemed surprised at the animal sound of his own voice.

 

"Let her make her own choice," the short-haired one commanded.

 

"I suppose my life is in your hands, Kaoru-hime," Battousai said darkly.

 

Kaoru stumbled away from them and covered her face.  She cried for a while, feeling those five pairs of sympathetic eyes on her back, and it was a while before Kenshin's name would stop chanting through her head.  Finally, she was able to get a hold of herself enough to think.  She paced on all fours as she did so, giving the matter consideration.  Then she finally turned to them.  It was obvious which three to eliminate first, at least.

 

Her mouth opened to speak, but then the fox said quickly, "Kaoru-dono, wait.  You ought to question us, that you should.  This one is sure the answers will be telling."

 

"They certainly will be," murmured the short-haired one.

 

"Questions," Kaoru said blankly.  "...All right.  Who are our children?"

 

"Children?" Battousai said in confusion.

 

"Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan," the rurouni said easily.

 

"No," the short-haired one objected, "there is Kenji, of course."

 

"All three!" the fae announced triumphantly.

 

The fox looked pained.  "Kaoru-dono, please ask another question."

 

"You didn't answer the first one," Kaoru pointed out, but then it occurred to her that perhaps the question had been too easy.  "All right, then."  She blushed a little.  "How many moles do I have, and where are they?"

 

Battousai blushed as well and looked away, saying nothing.  The rurouni and the short-haired one stumbled uncertainly through a list; the fae gleefully and without hesitation gave a complete catalogue of all the distinguishing marks on Kaoru's body, and their locations.  The fox only sighed.  Kaoru got the frustrating sense that she was doing something wrong.

 

"All right," she said slowly, "here's one.  What will happen when the last petal falls?"

 

This time, it was the two humans who looked confused.  The fae grinned and said, "Time to show Shishio who's boss."

 

Battousai sighed heavily.  "Either your father will die, or....."  His eyes clouded over.  "Or he will live, and I will never see you again."

 

Kaoru paused, her heart going out to him, then turned to the fox.

 

"When the last petal falls," it said quietly, "we will be free, and the rose will bloom again."

 

Kaoru caught her breath.  Why, of all five of them, had the fox alone given the answer that had been in her heart?  She had been sure it was the short-haired Kenshin, with such a calming presence and a strong focus on Kenji.  But the fae had answered the other questions most correctly...he _couldn't_ be the one, could he?  "Argh!"  She paced around some more to think, her thick striped tail flicking from side to side in agitation.  She could _not_ get this wrong....

 

"Kaoru-chan!" the fae called, but was abruptly cut off with a little squeal as Battousai rumbled menacingly, "We've heard enough out of _you_."

 

"Let her think," said either the short-haired one or the fox; Kaoru's back was to them and she couldn't see.

 

She finally came back.  "I know you, Kenshin," she said quietly.  "For seventeen years, I've ruled beside you, talked to you, made--" she blushed, "--made love with you."  She knew she and Kenshin were most likely alone in this place, but seeing five of him made her feel like she was addressing an audience.  "We've been through so much together.  I know your heart, Kenshin - and your truest self is not a murderer."

 

Battousai bowed his head and faded into nothing.  The others let out sighs of relief.  "One down, three to go," the fae observed, tossing back his hair.

 

"Was that right?" Kaoru said anxiously.  "Did I do it right?"

 

"Perfect," the short-haired one assured her.

 

"If you guess wrong," explained the fox, "the rest of us will shatter."

 

"So yes, fading is good, Kaoru-dono," the rurouni said with a nervous smile.

 

Kaoru smiled back, then started pacing again.  After a few minutes, she returned.  "Kenshin."  They looked back at her tensely.  "You...I know what your lineage is.  I've seen that look in your eyes sometimes...but...."

 

"Kaoru-chan, wait," the fae said frantically, but the fox growled, the rurouni wrapped his arms around the fae to restrain him, and the short-haired one put his hand over the protesting mouth.

 

Kaoru took a deep breath.  "I've seen your dedication and loyalty, your honor.  It's stronger than whatever eldritch blood you may have.  Kenshin...you belong in the human world, with me."  The fae struggled, but it was too late, he was already vanishing.  Kaoru's relief came out of her in a whoosh of breath; she hadn't been sure of that one.  Kenshin's comfort in the Seelie court, his dance with the queen, the way he seemed to come alive in their midst....  She shook her head firmly.  No, the fae had faded like Battousai, he wasn't the truest Kenshin.

 

She looked at the remaining three unhappily.  The humans _looked_ exactly like her Kenshin, though the Kenshin she knew no longer had long hair.  The short-haired one and the fox were so alike, she would not have been able to tell them apart if they weren't in different forms; but only the fox had known her answer.

 

She studied them for a long time before she finally said, her voice shaking, "Kenshin...I love your 'oro's, and your sense of humor, and I _can't_ resist those eyes of yours when you look at me like that.  But...that's...not all you are."  She swallowed, as his expression grew frightened and the others edged away from him.  "You have suffered too much for this cute face to be your truest one."

 

"Oro," the rurouni murmured in surprise, his voice fading along with his body.  "Not the real one after all...."

 

"I can't do this!" Kaoru suddenly burst out.  "What if I choose wrong, after all this?!"

 

"Relax, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin instructed.  He smiled.  "This one trusts you."

 

The fox also told her to relax.  "Don't try too hard, it will cloud your mind.  Listen to your instincts as well, that you should."

 

Kaoru looked from one to the other.  "I'm going to ask another question.  Okay?"  They nodded.  Kaoru opened her mouth to ask, closed it to frame the question more carefully, then spoke.  "If you had to choose...which would be more important?  Rescuing Kenji, or rescuing me?"

 

They looked warily at each other before they answered.  Then they said together, "Rescuing Kenji."

 

But Kaoru had been watching their faces carefully, and she gasped when she saw that one of them was lying.  "It's you!" she cried, running to throw her arms around the fox before she could change her mind.  It didn't work, though.  She was so shocked at the sight of her own arms that she didn't even notice the short-haired Kenshin fading away.  "I'm - _furry_!" she shrieked.

 

The fox looked startled.  "You didn't know?"

 

"NO!"  Craning her head over her shoulder, she was horrified to find that the dark fur extended over her entire body, and that she had a _tail_.  "I'm a RACCOON!"

 

"And this one is a fox," Kenshin pointed out, trying not to laugh.  "This is a place that likes representative forms, that it is."

 

"I'm a raccoon," Kaoru wailed again, huddling up miserably.  "I'm not even me anymore!"

 

"Of course you are."  Kenshin trotted over and licked the top of her head comfortingly.

 

She was very surprised at how _good_ it felt, that rough tongue moving across her head and at the bases of her furry ears.  "Do that again," she asked, but he panted at her in a fox-smile and carefully shook his head as if not used to the gesture in this form.

 

"We don't have time, Kaoru-dono.  We need to get out of here, that we do."

 

He was right.  Kaoru got up and followed him, stumbling now that she was so aware of her strange, four-legged movements.

 

He looked back over his shoulder and noticed her difficulty.  "Don't think about walking," he advised.  "Your brain may be unfamiliar with it, but your legs know the way, that they do."

 

It was a little easier then, especially when they were talking and she forgot about this new way to walk.  "Why did you come, Kaoru-dono?" he asked wearily.

 

"You left me," she accused.

 

"You already knew this one was leaving."

 

"But you didn't even say good-bye!"  She had been counting on that so she would know when to go after him.  She hadn't expected him to sneak off in the middle of the night.

 

"That isn't true."

 

"I was practically asleep!  That doesn't count!"

 

"It was the best this one could do," he said in exasperation.  "Leaving was only possible when the queen was off her guard."

 

"But why didn't you at least wake _me_?"

 

He stopped walking for a moment.  "Because you would have tried to stop this one, or follow him."

 

"I followed you anyway," Kaoru pointed out.

 

Kenshin shook his head.  "You make things so much more incredibly difficult than they have to be, Kaoru-dono... _itai_!"  She had bitten him, then waddled off to sulk.  "Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin called urgently, pawing at his injured ear.  "It's dangerous to go off on your own, that it is!"

 

"Same goes for you!" she shouted back furiously.  Then she unexpectedly came to the boundary, hidden in the fog, and let out a shriek.

 

"Kaoru-dono!"  He bounded after her, but she had already fallen.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Tomoe did not spend fourteen years trying to "convince Enishi of the truth."  Remember how short the time seemed to Sôjirô.

 

There are several Japanese words for "I."  I'm not a native speaker, so this may not be quite accurate, but I get the impression that "ore" is more masculine, "sessha" is an uncommon humble form, and "boku" (which Sôjirô uses) is mostly for young men.

 

Totally forgot about the Oniwabanshû.  Whoops.


	29. Chapter 29

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 10 - In which terrible things are learned and done.**

 

_"And pleasant is the fairy land,_

_But, an eerie tale to tell,_

_Ay at the end of seven years,_

_We pay a tithe to hell,_

_I am so fair and full of flesh,_

_I'm afraid it will be myself."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

_She had awakened to the sight of men being slaughtered by a monster with a sword.  She could still see them, even though her eyes were closed now, closed as tight as she could make them.  When she screamed, she couldn't hear the horrible noises anymore, so she kept screaming and screaming as loud as she could.  Every once in a while, a deep, masculine bellow would penetrate the wall of sound; once, something hot and wet splashed over her - she meant to cry out then, but she was already screaming so loudly that her voice choked into silence instead._

_In the sudden hush, she heard another gargling death-cry, and the barely-recognizable voice of her mother; so she clamped her hands harder over her ears and started screaming again, desperately trying to create a refuge out of her terror.  Her throat hurt, her voice wasn't loud enough anymore, but now it was quiet, so quiet._

_She felt a touch on her shoulder and jerked away like an animal; her eyes were startled open for one second.  She instinctively shied away from the terrifying face above her and fixated instead on the face of her mother - twisted, hideous; the room awash in blood.  Her horror poured out of her mouth in a sudden torrent of hot liquid, then she went limp and sobbed, eyes squeezed shut again._

_Her hands went up to claw at the lingering face in her vision, but then a harsh, broken voice began to sing, and it all went away into the darkness._

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The vomit was neither sparkly nor pleasant-smelling this time.  The Unseelie shrieked in disgusted delight and skipped out of the way.  Kenshin had not been eating much recently, and his throat felt burned raw from the bile he could now taste.  Slumped on the ground, he lifted a shaking hand to wipe his mouth, then forgot what he was doing and sat there for a long time with the back of his hand pressed against his lips.  His eyes were wide, staring at a patch of dry grass without seeing it.  He had never in his life been more conscious of Kaoru's presence than now, as she lay unconscious behind him.

 

"What's wrong, Battousai?"  Enishi was laughing.  "The great hitokiri, squeamish at the sight of blood?"  He and his people were howling with laughter, but Kenshin didn't move.  He felt like he had been poisoned, his limbs tingling and heavy.  He _knew_ that dead face, all those faces, of a queen who had died long ago and of the men who had given their lives trying to protect her.  Those faces still haunted him, along with all the others whose lives had ended at his hands.  But the little girl...he remembered her with shame, but he had not known her then; he knew her so well now....

 

He suddenly bowed over, heaving again, though there was nothing else to bring up.  How could this have happened?  How could this...?

 

The fae had gotten tired of waiting for him to recover; they seized him and hauled him to his feet, dragging him away with whoops and cheers as if for a hero.  He resisted only long enough to look around for Kaoru.  When he saw Sôjirô carrying her, he closed his eyes and let them bear him away.

 

Once back in the throne room, they lost interest and dumped him against a wall, then milled around excitedly for a bit before starting a game.  He curled his knees to his chest, the sakabatô folded in the crook of one arm.  For a little while, Enishi leaned against the wall beside him, mockingly keeping him company.

 

Enishi feigned interest in the game, which was getting bloody only five minutes in, but his real interest was in the dazed swordsman at his feet.  The king could not help glancing down every so often to silently gloat over his enemy - he could not believe what a perfect twist this was.  He had had no clue that Battousai had been so involved in the death of his own mother-in-law.  Not that Enishi would have cared, had their places been switched, but Battousai's peculiar sensibilities made this the icing on a sweet cake of revenge.

 

Speaking of which, perhaps it was time to get on with that.  "Battousai.  Surely you didn't come all this way to throw up at my gates and then sulk in here like a kid."

 

Battousai did not answer at first, but then suddenly raised his head.  "Where is Kaoru-dono?" he asked hoarsely.

 

Enishi shrugged.  Typical.  "Seta took her to one of the bedrooms.  Probably ravishing her even as we speak."

 

Battousai's only response was to drop his head again.

 

Enishi rolled his eyes.  Did they honestly think he didn't know where Seta Sôjirô's allegiance lay?  That Enishi wouldn't recognize one of the men who had killed his brother?

_"Enishi.  I'm off to execute a traitor - it ought to be an amusing battle; you want to come watch?"_

_"Can I?  Can I really?!  Of course!  It's Battousai, isn't it!  You're gonna kill him at last!  Let me help, please!"_

_"Don't be stupid, you're only a spectator.  Got that?"_

_"Got it, got it!  I swear I'll keep out of sight, no one will see me!"_

 

No one had seen him.  No one had heard his cry as he watched his brother being swallowed by the flames; it had been drowned in Shishio's last burst of laughter.  He had kept his promise.  And now Himura Battousai and Seta Sôjirô were both at his mercy.

 

He laughed softly.  I didn't matter if Seta had come here as a spy from the beginning.  He was much easier to understand than Battousai, and had been quite helpful in bringing Battousai straight into Enishi's palm.  Besides, after Battousai's fate was sealed, casting vengeance on Seta would be boringly anti-climatic.  "Well," he spoke up, "now that you're so completely disgusted by your wife, does this mean you've lost interest in this quest of yours?  That's something I won't put up with, you know."  He had his own reasons for wanting Kenji freed, and he needed Battousai to remain functional for that.

 

Kenshin lifted his head again.  Kenji....  He didn't have time for this.  He couldn't let this stop him.  Besides, soon it wouldn't matter whose mother that queen had been, at least to him.  His eyes went hard, and he slipped back to his feet, clenching the sword in one fist.

 

Enishi grinned.  "When they finish the game.  We'll go at it then.  Best of luck, Battousai!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

She was finally dragged out of the nightmares when her body jerked, flinging her back into consciousness.  "Kenshin!" she screamed out - but it was Sôjirô who was sitting beside her bed, looking at her with wide eyes.

 

"Kaoru-Jooh?"

 

She stared at him, breathing hard.  "Where's Kenshin?"

 

"He's a bit upset.  I thought it would be best to get you out of sight while everyone's attention was on him."

 

"Why would _he_ be upset?" Kaoru said in confusion.

 

"That vision you had, as you were coming out of the Fog," he said quietly.  "Only Enishi had strong enough magic to see it in your minds, but from the way he laughed, we knew it was something terrible.  He described some of it to us...."

 

Kaoru shuddered and put her face in her hands.  "It was so horrible...."  She hadn't thought about her mother's death in a long time.  She had been there in the very room where it had happened, but she had never remembered a thing; she had always felt somewhat guilty at the thought that she must have slept right through it.  She had had nightmares as a child for a long time afterwards, but never the same ones twice, and never of what had actually happened.

 

Thinking again of the sight of her mother lying dead in that blood-soaked room, of _Kenshin's_ face, monstrous almost beyond all recognition and yet undoubtedly still him....  But no, she had known that face once - it was Battousai's.  Kenshin _had_ been a hitokiri in the past...perhaps it wasn't so strange that one of her worst nightmares would be of such a thing.

 

"I'm sorry, Kaoru-Jooh," Sôjirô said softly.  "I can't imagine what it must be like to discover such a thing."

 

"What are you talking about?  Where's Kenshin?"

 

Sôjirô's eyes widened.  She didn't realize...?  Uneasily, he answered, "He would want me to take you away now, while there's still opportunity.  No one will notice if we slip away, and Chou might still be at the Seelie court if we hurry."

 

Kaoru determinedly swung her feet out of bed and stood.  The room was dark except for the moonlight shining through the uncovered window.  "I haven't come this far just to give up now."

 

Sôjirô bowed his head, and followed her out of the room with no further protest.

 

They could hear the great roar of cheering long before they were even close to the throne room and it was deafening when they entered.  Kenshin, widely ringed by a crowd of excited fae, was battling Enishi.  The Faerie King seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, but Kenshin fought grimly.  As Kaoru was coming in, he said in a brief lull, "Why are you drawing this out?  Only a 'clash of arms' is needed."

 

"True," Enishi drawled, surveying the admantine-poisoned wounds leaking down Kenshin's body.  "But I do so love to see you bleed."  He raised his eyes and smiled to see Kaoru.  "Ah well.  I suppose I've had enough fun for now."  He wiped his sword clean and sheathed it, to a loud chorus of disappointed "Boo!"s, which quieted only at his menacing glare.

 

Kenshin also returned the sakabatô to its sheath, then noticed Kaoru.  He looked away at once, but then faced her squarely.  "Kaoru-dono."  His face was completely closed.  "You shouldn't be here."  He looked accusingly at Sôjirô, who smiled and shrugged.  _She insisted.  You know her._

 

This was going to be a problem - unless Kenshin took her back himself.  Yes, he would do that, now that he was finally about to receive what he had come for.

 

He looked back at Enishi, who was brandishing a sheathed knife at him.  Unlike Titania's, there was no glamour on it to make it pretty.  The sheath was worn, unadorned leather, the handle smooth with no ornamentation.  Yet both this knife and Titania's blazed with opposing magics, so strongly that the fae winced away from the heat of it.

 

"Battousai," Enishi said solemnly, "I present to you as a token of my surrender--"  He suddenly broke off to giggle hysterically.  Kenshin waited in cold silence.  "Sorry," Enishi gasped, his eyes bright with malicious mirth.  "Sorry.  I present to you the knife of the Faerie King, passed down to me from my father, Oberon of the Unseelie."

 

Kenshin reached out to receive it, and for a moment, the knife was grasped by their two hands.  Enishi could hardly get out the last words, so choked was he by amusement.  "Use it...use it well, Battousai!"  Then he took his hand away so that he could brace it on his knee and howl with laughter.

 

Through the resulting laughter of the court, Kaoru urgently asked Kenshin, as he tucked the prize away, "Kenshin, what's that knife for?"

 

"To break the spell," he answered mechanically.  It had suddenly occurred to him that his death might not be swift, or even immediate.  Neither Enishi nor Titania had been very specific.

 

His imaginings were brought up short when Kaoru grabbed his wrists.  "Kenshin, _what's the knife for?_ "  Her intuition, simmering from the moment Kenshin had emerged from that council with Sôjirô, was suddenly flaring up into horrified certainty.

_Keep hold of him, don't let go, he's leaving you, go after him, go after him...!_

 

"What do you want this one to say, Kaoru-dono?" he asked wearily.  "It was the truth."

 

Her hands tightened on his furiously.  "What kind of sick spell needs a knife like that to break it?"

 

He put his arm around her.   "Let's go home, Kaoru-dono."

 

She shoved away and turned to face him, breathing hard.  "Kenshin.  You're planning to die, aren't you."

 

The dark fae were in hysterics.

 

Kenshin looked at her, thought how beautiful she was, supposed it was no wonder she would find out sooner or later, what with the way she refused to let him be.  He couldn't help smiling; he knew he shouldn't, but her persistence was so amazing, so precious.

 

"It's not funny!" she shouted, and he got himself under control again.

 

"You can't have us both," he told her gently.  "This one, or Kenji."

 

She stared at him, aghast.  "I can't _choose_ between my husband and my son!  What are you talking about?!  You said--  You said that everything would be all right!"

 

He looked at her.  His eyes couldn't get enough of her.  But he had to stop getting distracted - he saw now that she was never going to let go of him, and Kenji would be lost.  He gave her another smile, this time deliberately.  "You seem so upset, Kaoru-dono."

 

She stared at him, speechless at the gross understatement.

 

"You shouldn't yell so much, that you shouldn't.  It's not good for your looks."

 

"What are you _talking_ about?  You're telling me you're going to die, and all of a sudden you're worried about how I _look_?"

 

He shrugged.  "It seems like you ought to care, that it does."

 

"Baka!  I care about _Kenji_ , and about _you_!"

_'Yes, my love, and that's exactly the problem.'_   He gave her a surprised look.  "Oh, really?"

 

"Don't 'oh really' me!  Why _wouldn't_ I?!"

 

He scratched his head.  "It just seems like you wouldn't like this one much, now that you know the truth."

 

"What truth?" she said through gritted teeth.

 

He gave her another wide-eyed look of surprise, though his heart was pounding.  "Why, that I slew your mother, of course."

 

For a moment, horror engulfed her, though she quickly shook her head.  "No.  Idiot.  No.  That was only a dream."

 

He was shocked to feel a slow, crafty smile spread his lips.  He had never given in to his fey nature before...it was a little disquieting.  "A dream?  Is that what you think, silly girl?"  He giggled.  "Guess it's my fault, for singing to you back then.  You forgot."  He tapped his chin thoughtfully.  "Or did you make yourself forget?  I've heard that humans sometimes do that, too.  Especially if they're little."

 

Kaoru was shaking.  His carelessness frightened and hurt her as much as the words he spoke.  "It was a dream," she whispered.  "A nightmare, from coming through that fog-stuff."

 

"But the Fog only shows you truth," he said in mock-puzzlement.  "Your true self, your true past....  Oh!"  He snapped his fingers happily.  "I know how I can prove to you that it was real!  I'll fill in the blanks.  You weren't really looking, after all."

 

"Shut up!" she screamed.

 

He forced himself to go on; the words spilled eagerly out of his mouth.  He felt like he was splitting into two people.  "No, really!  I didn't know who the queen was, Shishio just said 'Go kill her,' so I went.  He was _mean_ to me," he added in a whine.  "He always made me do such icky stuff.  I don't like killing women; they cry such a lot, it's sad.  She threw stuff at me, too," he said indignantly.  "Salt!  Right in my _face_!"  He patted his unmarred cheek proudly.  "I still have such a pretty face, you know - despite the fact that everyone keeps trying to ruin it, mind you."

 

Kaoru stood, hands clenched.  "I want to - to _kill_ you," she whispered.

 

He blathered on as if oblivious.  "So she tried to stop me, but I got her in the end; and then there was this little girl crying, and...."  He grinned.  "You were so _cute_ when you were little, Kaoru-chan!  I was soooo tempted to steal you right then and there, but luckily I ended up having you anyway!"

 

She screamed, seized with rage and horror and betrayal.  Charging forward, she plowed into him and shoved until his back hit the wall; for a moment, she was hitting him--  Then she was gone, gasping with sobs.

_'Farewell, dear one....'_

 

Kenshin didn't move.  His hair had fallen thickly over his face.

 

The fae were chattering excitedly, quite a few of their expressions uneasy.  Tomoe and Akira had slipped away; Sôjirô was nowhere in sight.  Kaoru would be safe.  Kenshin had nothing left to accomplish here - only one thing remained.

 

A sound echoed through the sudden silence of the court - a rhythmic slap of flesh on flesh; Enishi, applauding, his eyes alight.  "Well done, Battousai," he said, almost admiringly.

 

Kenshin slowly advanced.  The fae drew back in fear, all except their king, who fiddled with the hilt of his sword.  Kenshin's voice was low and deadly.  "Enishi.  You shouldn't take delight in your vengeance - you will come to regret it."

 

"We'll see about that," Enishi answered coolly.  "Or rather, _I'll_ see, since soon your opinions aren't going to matter very much."

 

Kenshin turned to leave, but then suddenly paused.  "They're connected somehow, aren't they.  Kenji's imprisonment, and your sister's."

 

Enishi stiffened.  "I don't think I'm quite sure what you're talking about."

 

"Don't keep her waiting for such a foolish reason, Enishi.  She's waited long enough."  He walked away, and the fae parted silently before him.

 

The hallways re-arranged themselves just like at the Seelie court, but this time, it was to mislead her.  Kaoru, barely able to see through her tears, finally slumped against a wall, then shrieked when she felt a hand grasp her arm.  "Get off me!  Get _away_ from me!"

 

"Calm down," said an unhappy young voice.  "The Unseelie palace isn't friendly to enemies.  At this rate, you'll find yourself in the torture chambers."  Kaoru shied away from the young man who had hold of her.  Behind him was....

 

"You," she snarled.

 

Tomoe did not flinch from her gaze.  "You are in danger here, Kaoru-san--"

 

"You're the one in danger - from _me_!" she screamed, but Sôjirô caught her and she was crying uncontrollably.  Her hands flew up as if to crush her eyes, as if to crush the sight from her brain:  Battousai's horrifying face in the nightmare that had become real; Kenshin's familiar face, suddenly only a mask with a stranger laughing through it.  "He killed my mother...he killed my mother...."

 

Memory was assaulting her:  a red-haired monster, blood flowing from everyone he touched; the sounds of struggle, her mother's desperate pleading....  "I want to go home," she croaked.  "I want to go home, I can't stand this place anymore!"

 

Sôjirô looked at her sadly.  She should have let Kenshin go at the beginning, or she should have held on to the end.  This weakness was understandable, she had done so well to last even this long...it was just that Sôjirô hated seeing his queen suffer, when he could do nothing.

 

Tomoe's eyes were shadowed.  She felt that all this was wrong, wrong, but she would not sabotage the work that had been done.  "Kaoru-san...I can take you and your guard back, if you wish."

 

At the thought that the only other alternative was Kenshin, Kaoru shuddered.  She felt like she never wanted to see him again.  When she didn't move, Tomoe moved forward and touched her softly.  Sôjirô kept hold of her as well, and Akira determinedly grasped his lover's free hand.

 

When they were all gone, safely crossed to the human realm, Kenshin sighed from where he stood concealed in the shadows.  It should have been an easy task to obtain the knife of Oberon, use it to cut away the enchantment on Kenji, and then experience the result.  Yet it had been more difficult than he could have ever anticipated.

 

He had not taken into account the strength of the bonds that had formed between himself and so many people.  Certainly with his own family, especially with Kaoru; with the mortals who were loyal to him; with Titania and her handmaids and the other fae of the Seelie court; with Tomoe, and even with Unseelie like Yutarô and Chou and Enishi himself.  What should have been a simple path had been revealed as an uncertain labyrinth, sensitive as a spider's web, and he had the ominous feeling that each step he took tangled the strands even more.

 

He touched his hand to his cheek - Titania had told him once that the mark on his grandfather had covered the entire face, had left him disfigured even at his death.  Kenshin still remembered his father's face, graced with the family's good looks and often crinkled with laughter.  The cross-shaped mark had almost always been pale and hard to see; only at the end, cut down in the flames of his dying castle, had he shown a face snarling with fury and grief, striped red with blood and with that blazing mark.

 

Well, Kenshin, too, would now die with the mark full strength upon his face, just like his fathers.  It would be up to Kenji to break the tradition.

 

Kenshin steeled himself and moved to return home.

 

Perhaps it was unwise for him to have materialized in the midst of a group of armed men.  Saitô happened to have been holding a conference in the council room at the moment of the king's return, and at the sight of the ragged, scowling, wild-haired figure suddenly stepping out of thin air, the men sprang into action at once.

 

"Kenshin!" Sanosuke gasped, the first to check his reaction.  Then, uncertainly, "Kenshin?"  He swiped a hank of red hair out of the face, only to meet an amber-eyed glare.  He hastily let the curtain of hair flop back into place.  "Pardon the language, Most Excellent Majesty, but you look like hell."

 

"Where's Kenji?"

 

"Single-minded, aren't you," Saitô commented, re-sheathing his sword.  "We moved him to the northwest tower."

 

"Kinda creeped us out, having him lying there like that in the throne room," Yahiko mumbled.

 

Kenshin turned to the doors, but Sanosuke caught him by the shoulder.  "Hold on a sec!  You're a wreck, when was the last time you ate?"

 

"Or bathed," Yahiko put in.  "You look like you came straight from a battle."

 

Kenshin shook them off.  "There's no time.  Kenji needs to be awake before Kaoru-dono returns."

 

"So she's back, too," Sanosuke realized.  "I wondered."

 

"Where is she?" Yahiko wanted to know.

 

"Tomoe probably brought them back a short distance from the castle, to buy this one some time."  He swallowed.  "Go and meet them, if you like."  He did not want to think about their reactions, though by then it would probably be too late for them to do anything.

 

"You go, Yahiko," Sanosuke said.  "I'm going to the kitchens.  Saitô, don't let this guy out of your sight 'til we've gotten him fixed up a little."

 

"I don't take orders from you," Saitô said coolly.

 

Sanosuke shot him the finger and left, Yahiko just behind.

 

The captain of the guard, who had been waiting quietly through all this, now spoke up, an eyebrow raised.  "Just out of curiosity, am I ever going to be permitted to give my report?"

 

Kenshin sighed.  "Go ahead, Katsura."

 

Katsura smiled a little and shook his head.  "It's nothing that can't wait.  Do what you have to do, Himura-Ô."  He bowed and left.

 

For a minute, it was very quiet.  "Saitô," Kenshin finally said in a low voice, "will you accompany this one?"

 

"Hmph.  Looks like I don't have anything else to do at the moment," he grunted in reply, glancing meaningfully around the now-empty council room.

 

As they moved up to the northwest tower, Saitô said casually, "By the way, there's been an old woman hanging around.  Showed up a few hours ago, wanting to see the prince; got very upset, refused to leave.  The vixen's been keeping an eye on her."

 

"Is that so," Kenshin murmured.  They did not speak again, all the way up the tower.

 

When Kenshin opened the door, he found Kenji lying in a glass case in the middle of the room, unchanged from when Kenshin had last seen him.  Megumi sat on one side, sorting clean bandages and casting dark glances at the shriveled crone on the other side, who was huddled silently in her ragged shawls.  She did not stir when the door opened, but Megumi leaped up in surprise.  "Ken-Ô!  You're back!"

 

"Yes, Megumi-dono.  Thank you."

 

She nodded and moved aside as he entered, approaching the crone.  He stared down at her for a long while, and she did not move.  "Grandmother," he finally murmured, his tone a warning.  "What is your business here?"

 

The worn, craggy face slowly turned up to his.  "Enishi lied to you," she said dully, "and I was wrong."  It was the first time those words had ever passed her lips.  As she spoke, her aged looks melted into long, supple limbs, a sensuous body, a cascade of golden hair.  Megumi gasped at the sight of the Faerie Queen.

 

Kenshin was finding it difficult to breathe.  "What...do you mean?"

 

She spread her hand out flat over the silent boy, desperately sensing, but of course nothing had changed since the last time she had done so.  "When you left," she whispered, "I knew I had lost you forever.  I came to claim the boy as my own, to release him from the enchantments."  She turned wretched eyes to him.  "Kenshin.  The curse of the enchantress was sated the moment Kenji touched the blade of your sword.  As for the other...half of the terms have been fulfilled as well."

 

"What other?" Kenshin said harshly, but he knew; he knew.  Kenji was trapped under two enchantments, not one, and he had not fully understood until it was too late.

 

"Enishi lied," she said again.  "The terms were for _my_ spell, not Tomoe's, but the breaking of her contract and its consequences should have happened at the same time, not separately like this."

 

He was shaking his head mechanically, side to side, back and forth.  "Kenji will awaken when Tomoe's spell is broken.  The price is _my_ death--"

 

"Didn't you just hear me?" she snapped, hiding her anguish with anger.  " _Enishi lied_.  Kenji was never supposed to awaken.  Your death was meant to bring Tomoe's release, not Kenji's.  But...."  She closed her eyes and began to recite.   _"Hair red as blood, eyes blue as deep waters, the mark of a curse from birth--_   Kenshin, you are not the only one who fits that description."

 

"No!" he screamed, _"No!"_   He wrenched off the glass cover so violently that it crashed to the floor, cracking into three huge shards; Kenshin's hand found the Unseelie knife, plunged it downward, intending to slice through the spell and tear it away from his son.

 

Titania's iron grip caught his wrist.  "Stop," she hissed.  "Kenshin, he's already dead.  It's too late.  Tomoe's heart is all that keeps this boy tied to the land of the living - would you destroy even the last shred of hope you have left?"

 

When Kaoru came surging up the tower, frantic to see Kenji, trailed by her companions, she found Kenshin slumped against the glass casket in despair.  Kenji remained hopelessly cold and still.

 

The Faerie Queen looked up in irritation at the disturbance.  "Well, I'm not going to tell the whole story again," she said coldly to the two women who had stolen Kenshin from her long ago.  " _He_ can explain it to you."  She turned away and disappeared.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  The word "lover" doesn't necessarily mean that the couple is having sex.  Tomoe is still a handmaid.


	30. Chapter 30

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 11 - In which the king and queen are at odds.**

 

_"'They'll turn me in your arms, lady,_

_Into an ask and adder,_

_But hold me fast, and fear me not,_

_I am your child's father."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

The two menservants, having asked one of the guards on night duty to wake them, crept through the corridors at about three o'clock in the morning.  They reached the royal suite and were easily admitted by the sentries.  In the front room, the men were startled to see only a male servant on duty (supposedly; the young man was fast asleep) until they remembered uneasily that the queen had chosen to sleep elsewhere this night.

 

Resolutely, they approached the bedchamber and turned the knob slowly, opening the door with utmost care so as not to make a sound.  It took them a full five minutes.  Then, nodding at each other, they lowered themselves to the ground and stole as stealthily as snakes across the carpet.  When they reached the bed, they paused to listen.  The king's deep, even breaths were just audible from behind the thick bed curtains.

 

In a sliver of moonlight, their teeth gleamed as they smiled at each other - for perhaps the first time ever, they had escaped detection.  With extreme care, they rose and took their places, waiting for morning.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Titania leaned back against the luxurious mound of pillows at the head of her bed, her legs resting comfortably across Chou, who was snoring.  She was tapping her knife gently against her lips as she sat thinking....

 

Kenji still had a heart, after all.  Breaking _one_ of the spells on him would rob him of it - but not breaking the other.  Yes, it could very well work...the only trick was to find a way to do it without Kenshin or Enishi noticing.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The sensation of his head drooping down too far suddenly caused Fureddo to jerk awake, and his eyes flew open in horror.  "Haari!" he cried, "Haari!"

 

The other manservant straightened at once, and noticed the early morning sunlight with dismay.  "We fell asleep?!"

 

Cursing, Fureddo seized a handful of bed curtains and thrust them aside, to confirm that they had failed yet again.  To his shock, a figure was revealed still lying face-down on the bed.  At the intrusion of light and sound, the king, silently and without taking his face out of the pillows, reached for the curtains and yanked them closed again.

 

Fureddo and Haari gaped at each other.  "What time is it?" Haari whispered finally.

 

His companion glanced at the clock.  "Just past six."  They stood quietly for a moment.  Then their faces lit up with identical expressions of delight - _At last!_ \- and they nodded at each other.  Together, they took hold of the bed curtains again and grandly flung them aside.

 

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Fureddo declared with relish.

 

"Go away," Kenshin mumbled.

 

"There is much to do today, Your Majesty," Haari said merrily, grasping him.  Together, they hauled him upright, and he sat dully on the edge of the bed as Fureddo readied a set of fresh clothes and Haari brought a basin and towels for the king to wash his face and hands.  Haari frowned when he saw Kenshin's expression, and some of the glee (at finally, finally, _finally_ being allowed to do his job for once) died away.  "Your Majesty?"

 

Kenshin sighed deeply and rubbed at his face.  Then he stood.  "You're right.  There is much to do, that there is."  He winced at the thought of all the work that must have piled up while he and Kaoru were gone.

 

He submitted quietly to being dressed, smiling a little at their obvious pleasure.  At least _someone_ was happy.  They had been seeking to win at this game for years.  At first, they had simply gazed with silent distress when they would enter his chambers, only to find him fully dressed and ready to go.  However, after a while they made endeavors to get the better of him, waking up earlier and becoming more aggressive in their attempts; yet only very rarely had they managed to catch him long enough to ready him themselves.  This was the first time any of them could recall getting through the process with no struggle.

 

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Fureddo asked.  Concern was beginning to sour the triumph, and he and Haari exchanged anxious looks as they worked.

 

"No," Kenshin said shortly, but offered no explanation.

 

Hesitantly, Haari asked, "Is it about the prince?"

 

Kenshin realized that he was going to have to draft an official announcement about that as soon as possible.  Only those closest to him knew what had happened in detail.  "Yes," he admitted.

 

"And," Haari added, even more cautiously, "the queen?"

 

For a minute, Kenshin didn't move.  Then he slowly sank back down to sit on the bed, his head bowed.  Would she have still hated him if he had told her truthfully, gently, in private?  There was no way of knowing.  He knew that what he had done to her in the past, what he had done to her now in Faerie, were unforgiveable.

 

"Your Majesty?" Fureddo ventured, his voice hushed.

 

Kenshin sighed.  He was no longer in the Seelie court - he had work to do here.  "Haari, send someone to see if Saitô's up yet; if not, send in one of the secretaries.  It would be good to get today organized before--"  He took a deep breath, thinking of having to face Kaoru again.  "--before breakfast."

 

About an hour later, Kenshin, having discovered to his great puzzlement that the queen was taking breakfast in the grand dining hall for some reason, entered the echoing chamber and halted when he saw why.

 

Kaoru sat at the foot of the vast table (which was usually only used for banquets), surrounded by her maids and guards, and with the girls eating on either side of her.  All the way at the head, a place had been set for (he assumed) himself.  The servants at both ends were looking rather distressed, exchanging anxious looks between the queen and king.

 

Kaoru ate on, determinedly not looking at him, but behind her, Sanosuke indicated the two of them with an expression that made his opinion clear.  Yahiko raised an eyebrow, and Sôjirô shrugged apologetically.  There was complete silence except for the clinking of tableware and the chatter of the little girls.

 

Suzume saw him first.  "Daddy!"

 

Kaoru noticed and made a grab for her too late - the child had already slipped to the floor and was toddling over to her father.  "Suzu--" Kaoru started, then, "Ayame-chan!"

 

Kenshin stooped to take up his youngest daughter, and affectionately put his arm around the elder.  "Did you sleep well?" he asked them.

 

"Hai, sou de-gozaru!" they chanted together, then shrieked with laughter at the imitation of their father's unusual speech.

 

He smiled, leaning his head against Suzume's and breathing in her warm, powdery scent.  He had missed them so much....  _'Never go away again!'_ Ayame had commanded yesterday.  Though he had very much wished he could comply, he'd had a feeling that it would be best not to promise such a thing.

 

"Come sit with us, Daddy!" Ayame insisted.

 

He glanced at Kaoru's thunderous face and saw at once that such a thing was out of the question.  "Not today, sweetheart."  He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, and set Suzume back on her feet.

 

"Why not?" Ayame insisted, but Kaoru was calling her back, and the girls reluctantly returned to her.  They watched in confusion as Kenshin paced down to the other end of the table, where his own cluster of attendants began to serve him.  One of the guards, Takasugi, gave Kenshin a look almost identical to Sanosuke's, which Kenshin ignored.  He could hear the girls whining down at the other end of the table, though their words were indistinct.  Then Ayame's voice soared up eagerly.  "I know, I know!  I'll go sit with Daddy, and you can stay with Mommy, Suzume!"

 

"No," Kaoru said at once.  "I want both of you here."

 

"But Mommy," Ayame protested, "he's lonely!"

 

"She's right, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin called.  "This one is quite lonely all the way up here."

 

"See?" Ayame said triumphantly.

 

"Ayame-chan," Kaoru started, but then Kenshin called to her again.  He said nothing other than her name, but when she raised her head and reluctantly met his eyes, she shivered a little at his expression.  _To this one, do what you please; but do not use the children as weapons._

 

Kaoru swallowed.  "All right," she said in a low voice.  Then she shoveled more food in her mouth to stop herself from having to fake a smile.

 

"Yay!" Ayame cheered.  "I'm coming, Daddy!"  She carefully maneuvered both herself and her bowl down to the ground; when a servant tried to assist her, she held the bowl away and said politely, "Thank you, but I can carry it myself."

 

"Neechan!" Suzume said in distress when she saw her sister walking away from her.  She wriggled to get down, but Kaoru held her, attempting and failing to speak through the mouthful of food.  "Neechan!" Suzume cried again.

 

Ayame turned back.  "No, Suzume!  You have to stay _there_!" she scolded.  "We have to share, remember?"  Suzume sniffled and nodded.  She knew the rules, when there was a toy both of them wanted and could not play with at the same time.

 

Kaoru leaned her forehead wearily against Suzume's dark hair; Kenshin stared down at his food without seeing it.  Ayame was approaching, though.  It took him longer than usual, but he did manage to find his smile and get it back onto his face before she came near enough to see.

 

"I came to sit with you, Daddy!"

 

"Thank you, Ayame-chan."  One of the servants moved to help her into a chair, but Kenshin shook his head and lifted her into his lap instead.

 

"Oops!  I spilled soup on your eggs!"

 

"That's all right."

 

"Are you gonna eat it anyway?" she asked eagerly.

 

" _Should_ this one eat it anyway?"

 

"Do it, do it!"  She took her spoon and scooped up a bite of miso-soaked eggs, which she held invitingly to his face.  As he accepted the morsel, chewing and swallowing without noticing the taste, he gazed at her beautiful, bright little face.

 

"Ew!" she shrieked in delight.  "I can't believe you did that!"

 

He kissed the top of her head.  "There is not much this one wouldn't do for you," he murmured.

 

"Daddy," she wanted to know, as she turned back to her breakfast, "When is Niisan gonna wake up?"

 

There was a sudden motion at the other end of the table.  Kaoru was walking out, carrying a somewhat distraught Suzume.

 

Kenshin watched them go.  "Soon," he prayed.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  "Fureddo" and "Haari" are what you get if you transliterate the names "Fred" and "Harry" into Japanese and then back into English (as close as I can figure, anyway; my katakana skills are not the best).


	31. Chapter 31

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 12 - In which the sleeping prince awakens.**

 

A/N:  I forgot if I've mentioned it before, but the terms "Niisan" and "Neesan," while literally meaning "older brother" and "older sister," can also be used for people who are not family.  The connotation is that you look up to the person as if they really were an older brother or sister.  That's why so many people in this fic call Tomoe "Neesan" or give her that honorific.

 

o.o.o

 

_"O they rode on, and farther on,_

_And they waded through rivers above the knee,_

_And they saw neither sun nor moon,_

_But they heard the roaring of the sea."_

Thomas the Rhymer

 

o.o.o

 

Megumi was cursing.  It annoyed Kaoru, because it was like a pollution on this gorgeous day.  She was glad that the girls were playing too far away to hear.  Kaoru idly dipped her finger in the pool beside which she was sitting, watching the fat fish slowly scatter from this alien intrusion into their world.

 

"...and then that ridiculous scene at breakfast!  Do you realize what kind of rumors are going to spread?"  A pause.  "Are you listening to me?!"

 

"What?" Kaoru mumbled.  Some of the fish in the pool had scales exactly the color of Kenshin's hair.  She abruptly slapped the water with her palm and turned away.

 

"Kaoru-Jooh."  Megumi's voice was suddenly so helpless that Kaoru finally looked at her.  "What happened between you two?" Megumi asked softly.  "It's not just about Kenji, is it."

 

"Of course not," Kaoru snapped.  Then she hesitated.  What would happen, if she told Megumi?  Would she understand?  _'She has to,'_ Kaoru thought.  Megumi remembered Kaoru's mother, had sometimes told her stories of the old queen.  She would understand.  "Megumi," she whispered.  "He killed my mother."

 

"What?" Megumi said irritably.

 

Kaoru gritted her teeth and said it again, louder.  "You know he was an assassin, Megumi.  He was the one.  When my mother died.  It was _him_."

 

Megumi's mouth came open in shock.  For a moment, she couldn't speak, and then it was in a disbelieving, strangled tone.  " _What_?"

 

Kaoru started telling the story slowly, but she became heated and less coherent as she went on, her voice stumbling over itself at times.  When she finished, she stared sullenly down at the ground, tense as she waited for Megumi's response.

 

"Something's...wrong," the older woman said slowly.  "Ken-Ô wouldn't--"

 

"What would _you_ know," Kaoru said tightly, "what that fae would or wouldn't do?"

 

Megumi stared at her.  She had never heard Kaoru refer to her husband in such a way.  "I know," she said finally, "that he would never have so heartlessly killed anyone, much less a woman.  There must have been a better reason, at least!  It doesn't make sense that he was only following orders."

 

"I don't care," she choked out, "whether he was only following orders!"

 

"There has to be a mistake..." Megumi said helplessly.

 

"Did you hear him, when he told me?" Kaoru hissed.  "You weren't there.  You didn't hear him.  Maybe...maybe if _Kenshin_ had told me...but it wasn't him.  It was practically another person."

 

Megumi shook her head, not understanding.  "Whatever he said, however he said it, he can't have meant it."

 

Rage surged over her, so powerful that the words to express it in left her.  She sat in silence - the look on her face was terrible.

 

"Kaoru-Jooh," Megumi said quickly.  "What I meant was, he can't have meant to hurt you so badly without good reason."  When there was still no response, "Kaoru!  You _know_ him!"

 

"No," Kaoru whispered tightly, "I don't.  Not anymore."  The tears this time slipped quietly down her face, as her rage drained away into grief.  "I never did."  She touched her face, looked at her hands.  Her wet fingertips sparkled in the sunlight.  "All these years, and he never told me...."

 

Megumi was startled.  "You mean he knew?  He knew all along?"

 

" _Apparently_ so," Kaoru said tightly.  It did not occur to her to think otherwise; how could he _not_ have known?  How could he have been so callous if the realization was fresh?  "I wonder what it's like, to marry a girl and have children with her, and laugh at the thought that you once...her mother...."  She could not finish.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Seriously?" Sanosuke yelped in disbelief.  " _That's_ what this is about?"

 

"Could it be anything less?" Sôjirô said wryly.

 

"Who'd have thought," Yahiko muttered.  "And after all that, Kenji's still...."

 

"We have to see him," Sanosuke decided.  "They can't go on like this.  Did you _see_ what happened at breakfast?"

 

"Talking to him right now--" Sôjirô started, but Sanosuke had already barged past him in search of their troubled sovereign.

 

There was a nervous, murmuring crowd huddled in the hall outside Kenshin's office.  The door was closed.  Sanosuke swore in confusion, and Yahiko demanded of those nearest, "What's going on?"

 

"The king threw us out," one of the men explained, almost sheepishly.

 

"What'd you do?" Sôjirô asked, interested.

 

"Nothing!" the man protested.  "It was business as usual, but he wouldn't even look at the other papers until he had drafted the official statement on the prince's, ah, condition.  But...."

 

"I was only doing my job," said a woman sullenly.  "A person can't be expected to write about something she knows nothing about.  I was only asking for a few details!"

 

"He can't do all the work himself," someone else complained, "that's what we're here for!  What could he possibly be doing in there?"

 

"Shall we find out?" Sôjirô said invitingly.  At this, the group of councilors looked hopeful, but they hastily backed away when Sanosuke grinned and clapped his fists together in preparation.

 

BAM.

 

The doors shattered like matchwood.  The three bodyguards were at the head of an inward surge that halted at the sight of the king - or rather, at the sight of a heap of red hair perched atop a pile of sleeves.  No one had ever seen him in that posture before.  "Leave us," a muffled voice issued thickly from the unseen face.

 

No one had ever heard him use the majestic plural outside formal ceremonies, either.

 

"Kenshin," Sanosuke started firmly, but didn't get farther.  Something like a clear bubble had appeared on the desk and was now rapidly increasing in size, looking as if it had every intention of expanding until it filled the room.

 

Sôjirô was the first to react, dashing with his inhuman speed to the empty fireplace to grab the iron poker.  The protesting councilors suddenly broke off and hastily retreated, though Sanosuke and Yahiko held their ground until the bubble touched them.

 

It felt nothing like it looked - it was as if a wall of air was pushing them back, gently but firmly, as it advanced.  "What the--!"  Sanosuke cursed again as he and Yahiko shoved back, but they kept sliding ever closer to the broken doors until Sôjirô fought his way to them and held up the poker as if it was a shield.  The bubble, abruptly and silently, burst, vanishing as if it had never been.

 

"Kenshin," Sanosuke growled, "was that a freaking _spell_?"  He had known the king had fae blood.  He had never before seen such strong evidence of it.  It gave him a sudden, very disquieting understanding of Kenshin's mood.

 

"Some kind of magical barrier," Sôjirô supplied, when Kenshin didn't answer.  "I'm afraid you can't get rid of us that easily, Himura-Ô."  He turned, tapping the poker back against his shoulder as if it was a sword.  "The rest of you should probably take the day off, though."

 

"But--!"

 

"We can't do that!"

 

"There's so much work--!"

 

Slowly, Kenshin raised his head.  He needed to say nothing.  The look on his face was enough.

 

"As the king commands," someone said hastily.  They bowed and rustled away, looking troubled.  After a moment, Yahiko went over and dragged the remaining bits of the doors shut.

 

"What do you want?" Kenshin growled at the remaining three intruders.

 

"Sôjirô told us," Yahiko said abruptly.

 

Kenshin put his head back down on his arms.

 

"Stop that!" Sanosuke exploded, stomping over and shaking Kenshin by the shoulder.  "Stop acting like such a _wimp_!"

 

Kenshin shifted; narrowed amber eyes became visible through the fringe of his bangs.  Sanosuke stopped shaking him, gulped, and took a small step back.

 

"Sano," Kenshin murmured, "do you have a wife, or children?"

 

"Of course not," Sanosuke snapped, coloring.

 

"Yes."  His point made, he buried his face again.

 

Yahiko sighed.  "This is ridiculous...."

 

The next instant, all four of them were on their feet, reaching for weapons.  Outside, practically right next to the window, a voice was shouting furiously - Kenshin recognized it as Enishi's.  "DON'T YOU _DARE_ REVIVE HIM NOW, YOU SELFISH BROAD!"

 

"WHO'S CALLING WHO SELFISH, UNSEELIE BRAT?!" an enraged female voice shouted back.  For an instant, the room went dim as an enormous mass of feathers struck the window.  Sanosuke and Yahiko gaped at the sight, but Sôjirô looked around and realized that Kenshin had gone.  "Sano-kun!  Yahiko-kun!  The queen is out there!"

 

Sanosuke cursed, and the three of them raced out.

 

Kenshin burst outside, where Kaoru was running to meet him, dragging the girls.  "Kaoru-dono!" he called urgently.

 

"Kenshin!  They're fighting--"  She suddenly broke off at the sight of him, conflicted.

 

He impatiently turned his eyes to Megumi.  "Megumi-dono, please get them somewhere safe," he ordered sharply, then took off for where the two fae were fighting - they were ominously close to Kenji's tower.

 

Kaoru glanced at Megumi in distraction.  "Please get them somewhere safe," she repeated.  Hurriedly, she stooped to kiss the frightened girls - "Mommy will be right back!" - and then dashed off in the direction Kenshin had gone.

 

"Oh, wonderful!" Megumi shouted after them.  "I feel so appreciated!"  Then she turned her attention to Ayame and Suzume, who were clinging to her.  "It's all right," she said soothingly, "everything will be taken care of.  Let's go somewhere nicer, okay?"

 

Titania, dwarfed by her own pure white royal wings, hovered by Kenji's tower in frustration.  Enishi, supported by his own black feathers, was determinedly blocking her way.  "Let me through, boy," she commanded.

 

"Over my dead body," he hissed, bringing his hands together.  The dark energy of attack magic began to glow between his palms.

 

On the ground, Kenshin found his sleeve grasped by a harassed-looking Tomoe.  "Kenshin," she said, her normally beautiful voice rasping, "I don't know what's going on - I think Titania means to revive Kenji somehow, but Enishi was furious when he found out."  Kenshin glared up at the two in the air, who were now blowing bits and pieces off his castle when their attacks missed.  He could just barely make out the knife in her hand.

 

The knife of Titania.

 

Kenshin slowly pulled out the knife of Oberon and stared at it.  One had the power to cut through any Unseelie spell.  The other was able to do the same to Seelie enchantments.  Kenji was afflicted with both.  "She means to..." he whispered.  He stared at Tomoe with wide eyes.  "Tomoe - if your curse is dissolved while Grandmother's is left in place, Kenji will still have a heart to sustain him."

 

Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes filled with sudden, anguished tears.  She had no right to refuse, no right to shake her head, but she could not stop her eyes from begging him, and he had no power to harden his heart against her.  _'Besides,'_ he thought dully, _'if it is the Faerie Queen who frees him, it is to her he will belong.'_   Neither of them noticed Kaoru behind them, her eyes wide.

 

Up in the air, the Faerie King and Queen hovered warily, eyes fixed on each other.  Titania was so intent on the battle that she even forgot to maintain her beauty glamours - her hair, dull red in color, hung in lank clumps past her shoulders; the cutting brilliance of her eyes had dimmed to a murky blue; and her face, though still attractive to human eyes, had lost its terrible, youthful perfection.  As she became aware of this, it suddenly occurred to her, with a stab of wounded rage, that Enishi, who never bothered with such glamours, was actually better-looking than _her_ in their natural states.

 

"Arrrgghh!"  For the first time, she unleashed an attack targeted specifically to hurt him, to smash up that pretty face which no man had a right to possess.

 

He was ready, countering with an attack of his own, then following right in its wake.  The two magical forces met with a thunderous crash, raining down flowers and shards of glass as they exploded.  Enishi dodged under them just before they collided, which brought him practically up in Titania's face; he snatched the knife from her hand when she was still registering his proximity.

 

"No!" she howled, plowing bodily into him.  She grabbed wildly for her knife, but succeeded only in knocking it to the ground.  She gasped and turned to follow it, but Enishi seized her hair and pulled, simultaneously sending vicious shocks of magic into her.

 

Below, Kenshin had thrown up his arms to cast a spell of protection around the castle, at least around the portion he could reach, even though he knew that casting an effective spell of such size was impossible for him.  He was grateful when Tomoe laid her hand over his own, lending strength and substance; his flimsy shield steadied and hardened, guarding his children and his people from stray magic as well as could be expected.  "Sano," he grunted when he saw the guards out of the corner of his eye, "you are needed elsewhere.  Get Kaoru-dono to safety and evacuate this area of the castle."

 

"The queen?" Sanosuke said in confusion, "but she went--"

 

"Sano, _go_!"  Maintaining the barrier was taking all his concentration as he waited for Tomoe to seal it down.  He did not notice when Sanosuke rolled his eyes and beckoned to Yahiko to go back the way they came.

 

Titania was screaming horribly, but despite the pain, she somehow managed to fold one of her wings quickly enough to clout Enishi on the side of the head.  He staggered in the air, his grip loosened, and she slammed a dense ball of magic at his face; he shifted and it hit him just below his throat.  As he coughed desperately, she contemptuously pulled free and descended to find her knife.

 

It was gone.

 

"Grandmother," Kenshin said urgently, gasping a little from the effort of using magic, "you should have spoken to _this one_ first!"

 

"And lose Kenji, the way I lost you?" she sneered.  "Not a chance."

 

"Your Majesty," Tomoe started, but broke off when Titania slapped her across the face.

 

Kenshin was instantly between them, hitting the queen with the full force of his amber-eyed glare, but she only smiled coldly.  "You're so picky, Kenshin.  'This one _must_ have Kenji back, at all costs!'" she whined in imitation of him.  "'Except the cost of his so-called _freedom_ , or the cost of dear little _Tomoe_ , or--'"

 

"Where is it?!" Enishi shrieked.  His voice was so near that all three of them whirled - he was on his knees, fingers tangled in the grass, looking around wildly.  "It was just _here_!  Who took it?!"

 

"Little mortal queen," Titania whispered, and looked at once to the tower.  Neither Kenshin nor Tomoe could see what was happening in Kenji's room, but the vision of the Faerie King and Queen pierced through stone and saw the breathless figure emerge through the doorway and slowly approach the glass case, clutching the Seelie knife with shaking hands.

 

As one, Enishi and Titania loosed the same epithet and then surged back into the air.  Kenshin barely understood what had just happened, but his instincts shot him into action at once.  He whirled and streaked toward the castle doors as behind him, Tomoe called upon her own wings and rose up to the tower.

 

Kaoru was standing beside her son, looking down at him, her breath coming in frightened gasps.  Her hand gripped the Seelie knife so hard she was afraid she would drop it, but she had only just started to raise it when Enishi and Titania came crashing into the room.  "No!" Kaoru screamed, and reached frantically to cut Kenji free, but Titania seized her hand--

 

Before she could wrench the knife away, Enishi, forgetting all magic in the depth of his rage, punched her in the face.  Titania crashed backwards against the wall, stunned, and slid down into a heap on the floor.

 

Enishi slouched there, breathing hard, glaring at Kaoru fiercely enough to melt her if he had remembered the accompanying words.  She stared back in terror, clutching the knife to her chest, unable to move.  "You," he whispered.  "I'll kill you."

 

"Enishi!"  Tomoe was slipping through the window, running to catch him by the shoulder, speaking quickly, urgently.  "Enishi, don't hurt her!  Wait, please wait, please--"

 

He shook her off violently.  "Why are you protecting her?!" he shouted.  "She's _his_ wife!  I'll kill her!  In fact, I'll kill her _first_ , while he's _watching_ , and then I'll kill _him_!"

 

"Enishi, _no_!"

 

"Why not?!  Why?!  After everything he did, Nee--!"

 

"Enishi," she gasped desperately, "Kenshin never raped me!  He never even _touched_ me!  I left the Unseelie court with him willingly--  I wanted to _marry_ him, Enishi!"

 

He looked like she had stabbed him.  "Not...again," he rasped.  "I told you - not to talk like that - _ever again_!"

 

"Enishi, it's the _truth_!  Just because I _can_ lie now doesn't mean I WILL!"

 

"Niisan wouldn't lie to me!" he screamed wildly.  "Niisan told me everything!"

 

Tomoe stared at him, realizing helplessly that only one voice could reach him now, and that voice was gone forever.  Even if he still lived, Shishio would have no inclination to free his little brother from such amusing delusions.  "No!" Tomoe cried, when she saw Enishi summon his sword.

 

Kenshin knew he was not going to make it in time, but there was nothing else he could do, except run with all the strength of his being--  Someone seized him, Sôjirô; they were like wind, faster than wind; Kenshin's face hurt from the lashing of his hair in the rush of their travel.  They appeared in the tower room almost as if they had translocated.

 

Enishi was slashing a sword at his sister.

 

"Tomo--"  The name choked in Kenshin's mouth.  Only after that initial shock of sight did he perceive the rest; Kaoru backing away, screaming his name; Enishi killing her, trying to kill her, unable to because Tomoe was suddenly in the way.  "TOMOE!"

 

Enishi noted with helpless confusion and fierce annoyance that Tomoe had thrown herself between him and his target.  He didn't bother to check the blow, it was too late anyway, though he did wonder why her body felt so heavy as he shook her clear of his blade.  Then he turned his attention to the mortal woman, but now here was Battousai, raising that ridiculous sakabatô to block his sword.

 

Kenshin strained to keep that deadly blade away from Kaoru, and he repelled it more easily than he had expected.  The emotions roiling through him gave him a focus such as he had never experienced before.  "Enishi," he whispered raggedly, "your own sister...?"

 

"What are you talking about?" Enishi snapped, sparing a glance behind him, but then he stopped.  Tomoe was still on the floor.  Something red was spreading steadily from her - where had that come from?  "Neesan," he called irritably, "stop that!"

 

Sôjirô had moved around to take Kaoru by the arm, pulling her gently away; Kenshin was free to go to Tomoe, but Akira had reached her first.  "Tomoe-san!" he cried desperately.  "Tomoe-san!"

 

"Get up, Neesan!" Enishi shouted, furious in his terror.

 

A soft touch on his shoulder made him whip around like a startled animal; Kenshin took his hand away at once.  "Enishi," he said in a low voice.  "Tomoe has this one's mortality.  She is as susceptible to admantine now as this one would have been."

 

"Shut up!" Enishi shouted, and fell to his knees beside his sister - but he saw, to his horror, that some magic was withering away from her.  It had to be some other magic, not glamour...it couldn't be glamour, she didn't need it, she was immortal.  Yet here were little wrinkles that had begun to develop in her forehead and at the corners of her mouth, and two or three strands of silver hair that flowed obliviously alongside their black companions.  She looked...almost human.  There was nothing fey about her beauty.

 

Enishi's eyes shot to Battousai, but the denial died on his lips.  The red-haired swordsman was far too beautiful than anyone with so much human blood should be.  Though he was over forty years old, he looked almost the same as he had when he was a teenager.  "It's not true!" Enishi shouted.  He kept screaming as he backed away from his fallen sister.  "I'll find it...I'll find her heart, tear it out with my bare hands, terms or no--"  He vanished.

 

Titania, sitting with her knees curled to her chest, whispered tightly, "You've gone mad, boy.  You'll never find Kenji...and even if you could...."  She glanced up, because she sensed Kenshin's eyes on her; but she could not bear that look of icy gold fury, so she hid her face like a child.

 

"Battousai!" Akira snarled, grabbing Kenshin's hands and pressing them against the blood-soaked wound.  "Heal her!  _Heal her!_ "

 

"This one can't," Kenshin said helplessly.  Small cuts, insect bites, fevers; but his magic was not strong enough for wounds of this severity.  He tried anyway, pouring Seelie healing into her, but it did little more than slow the flow of blood.  He felt as if he was being drained of something else as well, something vital....

 

Gentle hands closed over his, tugging him away.  "Stop, Ken-chan.  Are you trying to kill yourself, silly?"

 

Some of the handmaids had come, clustering around their fallen sister to lay their hands on her and watch the blood stop coming out of her, the sliced flesh sealing back together, leaving a long red scar.

 

"Tomoe-san," Akira called hopefully, cradling her.  Her eyes remained closed, her skin cold.  Her clothing, over her chest, was growing wet, though not with blood.  "Why won't she wake up?!" Akira cried.

 

Titania's voice startled him, close and high above his shoulder.  "A fatal wound like that...this fragile heart of ice cannot sustain her through such healing.  Look, it's already melting."  Titania looked sad.  "Good-bye, Tomoe.  I'm sorry."  Horrified, Akira cast his thickest ice spell over Tomoe; it glimmered like crystal, encasing her in a shell of preservation.  Titania shrugged.  "You're only prolonging the inevitable.  She's lost - only her true heart could have saved her."  She gave him a condescending look.  "Even the Faerie King, no matter how hard he searches, will not be able to find it.  What chance do you think _you_ have, boy?"

 

"Grandmother."  She looked up.  At the sight of those hot gold eyes again, she took a nervous step back.  "What Enishi searches for...."  He glanced for a moment at Kenji.

 

"Well, of course you can't literally rip out someone's heart and expect to be able to shove it into someone else," she snapped.  "Such magic requires a thing's representative form - you should know that, after passing through the Fog!"

 

Without a word, Kenshin turned and stepped out of that world.  Titania quickly followed him - or so she thought.  He was nowhere in Faerie; by the time she figured out where he had gone, it was too late to stop him.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenji was really sick of the Boring Place, but he hadn't figured out a way to get out yet.  It was like clouds, a floor of clouds stretching out like the ocean in all directions, on and on and on for as far as he could see.  There wasn't even a sun, just a pale blueness above and the fluffy whiteness below.  Walking on it was like walking on feathers - his feet sank down a little, but the cloudy stuff was massed so thickly that it held his weight.

 

He had been twirling out of sheer boredom, spinning around and around with his arms spread, when he finally, FINALLY caught sight of something that was not blue sky-thing or fluffy cloud-stuff.  He jerked to a halt, swaying.  In a slightly wobbly manner, he walked over to investigate this new thing that had appeared in the Boring Place.

 

It was a woman...and, like Kenji when he had first found himself here, she had no clothes on.  She was curled up so that most of his attention was caught by the extraordinary sight of her back.  Scars had been slashed into it, scars which strangely resembled the mark on Kenji's own cheek, only bigger.  One angry red line stretched diagonally almost from her shoulder to her hip, and another line crossed it a little unevenly, coming the other way.

 

He found himself blushing.  "Um...lady?  You can imagine clothes, and they'll come."  It had taken him a little while to figure that out.  He had been walking around naked until he'd thought, _'I really wish I had some clothes,'_ and they had magically appeared on him.

 

Slowly, the woman uncurled and sat up, still facing away from him.  "Kenji."  Her voice was very quiet.  "It is dishonorable to stare at an unclothed woman, unless she is your lover."

 

"Oh...right...."  His face now crimson, he spun away and waited uncomfortably until she spoke again.

 

"I'm dressed now, Kenji."

 

"Hey," he said as he turned back around, "how do you know my name?"

 

She was kneeling with her hands limp in her lap, looking away from him.  "I know you very well," she said softly.

 

"Yeah, but I don't know _you_ ," he pointed out.

 

At last she turned to look at him, and smiled a little.  It was kind of a scary smile, though, because it was so sad.  "I am Tomoe."

 

"Oh.  Hi."  He grinned and plopped down comfortably next to her.  It would be very good to finally have somebody to talk to in this place.  "I'm glad you're here, you know.  This place is boring as heck."

 

"I apologize for that," she murmured.

 

He wrinkled his nose in confusion.  "Huh?  Why?  It's not your fault."

 

She shook her head.  "I am afraid it is, Kenji.  You see, it...it was I who sent you here."  She smiled self-deprecatingly into the distance.  "It seems fitting that I should now find myself here as well."

 

"...Oh."  He wasn't quite sure what to make of this.  "Why did you...?"

 

She could not stand the hurt look on his face.  "If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Kenji--"

 

"Of course!"  It was so quick that she was startled.  "As long as you didn't _mean_ to send me here, right?"  He didn't want his new companion to be a villain.  If she was willing to make amends, he was eager to befriend her.

 

"Well," she said slowly, "it was deliberate, of course.  But it was very much against my desire, and I regret deeply that I gave in to selfishness and risked your life."

 

This sounded like a good story.  "Someone forced you?  You're a selfish person?  You tried to kill me?  Tell me!"

 

She looked at him, a little disconcerted.  "I...well, I did not want you to die, of course.  My brother--"  She shook her head.  "I will have to tell the story from the beginning."

 

Kenji spread his arms his arms out, indicating the vast nothingness.  "Believe me, Neesan, we've got _lots_ and _lots_ of time."

 

She smiled sadly at him, in awe of his spirit.  "Oh, Kenji, I wish I could have known you under better circumstances.  I wish I could have been a good godmother to you, and watched you grow up with your family...."

 

"You're my godmother?" he said interestedly.  "Tell me the story already!  Please," he added as an afterthought.

 

She sighed.  "Very well.  Perhaps I should start by saying that I met your father long ago...."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin found himself floating.  Lights were flashing through the darkness, and after a minute, he realized that these were people.  Small ones in strange suits, pointing things at each other that made the lights on their clothing die.  It was an utterly alien place, and held no interest for him at the moment; it was not what he was looking for.  He moved on.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"...So you were gonna marry my dad?  Hey!  That means that you're, like, my mom!"

 

She looked over at him, her expression difficult to read.  "I could have been your mother, Kenji - but I am not."

 

"Oh," he said, disappointed.  He wanted a mother.  He liked Megumi fine - in fact, he liked her a lot, even though she _did_ yell at him for doing stuff that he called 'adventurous' and she called 'dangerous.'  But he wanted...he wanted the real mother that his guardians always talked about.  He knew he had one - somewhere.  But he didn't know what she looked like, or if her idea of 'dangerous' was the same as Megumi's, or if he would even like her, but he wanted to like her.  "I like you," he told Tomoe dolefully.

 

"Oh."  She was a little confused.  "Thank you.  I like you, also."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin felt solid ground beneath his feet again, blinking against the abruptly shining sunlight, and a startled creature leaped away from his sudden presence.  It took Kenshin a minute to realize that the thing was a mouse - it was much too large, and wore a sword at its waist that was shaped differently than a katana.  This tiny weapon it drew, and brandished at him while addressing him in a fierce, challenging set of squeaks.  Obviously it could communicate, though not in a way Kenshin could understand.

 

"This one means you no harm, and has no interest in fighting," he said in as reassuring a tone as he could.  He turned away and vanished.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Tomoe sighed.  "I should have been content with what I had....  I did what I could for your father, and it should have been enough.  I watched him walk through life with such a weight on his shoulders, until at last he found another woman."

 

"What a jerk!" Kenji said indignantly, and Tomoe nearly laughed.

 

"No.  I was glad.  I wanted to see him happy, and he was at last when he married Kamiya Kaoru.  And," she eyed him, "when they gave birth to you, and to their two daughters after you."

 

Kenji suddenly felt very strange.  Two daughters - his sisters.  Two more he should have known intimately, and yet had never met.

 

"I was glad.  I meant to watch over him and his family, to protect his happiness the way I could not when we were young.  But...then I met Akira-san," she whispered.

 

"Is Akira a bad guy?" Kenji wanted to know.

 

"No!" she exclaimed.  "No...Akira-san loved me."  She laughed once, a desperate sound.  "He wouldn't go away.  He stayed with me, and loved me, until I couldn't help loving him back."  She closed her eyes.  "When I was told that I could break my contract and recover my heart, that I could...that I could be with Akira-san...that's why I cursed you, Kenji.  Because I was too selfish to do the right thing.  I thought I could stall until a way was found to save you, but it doesn't matter in the end.  I never should have done it.  I am a very terrible person."

 

"Yeah," Kenji said in awe.  "You're like the wicked stepmothers in those stories.  Except you're a lot nicer than them."  He frowned.  "Not as bad as my stupid dad, though.  Dumping you 'cause he couldn't get what he wanted; I like your Akira better.  That's what a _real_ man should be like."

 

"Kenji..." she murmured.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin had appeared in a richly-furnished sitting room, where a very good-looking foreigner with black hair and an extraordinarily beautiful dressing gown gazed at him in mild surprise.

 

"Please forgive the intrusion," Kenshin said, since the man appeared to be in the middle of breakfast.

 

The man frowned and made an odd gesture.  When he spoke, the words were strange, but Kenshin could somehow understand him perfectly.  "Now, which world have you wandered in from, good fellow?"

 

"This one isn't sure," Kenshin confessed.  "He had not realized there were more than two."

 

"I see."

 

At that moment, Akira and Kaoru came bursting into view, clasping each other's hands tightly.  Both of them looked rather strained.  "How are you _doing_ this?" Akira gasped, out of breath.  "It's taking all my magic just to follow your trail!"

 

"If you think," Kaoru growled, "I'm going to let you run off alone on some errand that concerns _my son_ , you've got another think coming!"

 

Kenshin bowed in acknowledgment.  "He is not here.  Let's go."  He could see she was not going to take his hand, so he turned away, trusting Akira to bring her along safely.

 

"I think I'm going to keep an eye on you three," the enchanter in the dressing gown murmured as he watched them go.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"...but even if that's true," Tomoe was saying, "which it isn't, you must remember, Kenji, that even the worst person in the world may have someone who loves him.  That doesn't absolve him of his evil acts."  She thought of her older brother and sighed.

 

"Yeah," Kenji protested, "but in the stories, the bad guy never--"

 

"Life's stories," she said quietly, "do not always resemble fairy tales."

 

"See, this is what I mean," Kenji complained.  "All I've _got_ are stories, I don't know anything.  I want to freaking get out of the forest and actually have a _real_ life, but now I'm stuck here--"  He paused.  "'Cause of you, I guess."

 

"I see," she said faintly.  "You're right, Kenji.  I'm sorry."

 

"It's okay," he mumbled, and rested his chin on his knees.  "You think we'll ever get out of here?"

 

"I don't know," she said softly.  "It is possible that someone will rescue us."

 

He eyed her.  "Only possible?  Not for sure?"

 

"We are here," she explained, "because something still ties our bodies to the mortal world.  If we cannot get out before the final links are severed...."

 

Kenji shivered.  "I hate having to be rescued," he growled.  " _I_ want to be the one rescuing _other_ people."

 

She smiled a little.  "One day, Kenji."

 

"If all goes well, you mean," he said pointedly.

 

"Yes.  If all goes well."

 

Kenji lifted his chin off his knees.  "Hey!" he shouted into the distance.  "If you're coming, hurry up already!"

_'Kenshin,'_ Tomoe thought, _'Akira-san....'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

In the next world, a red-haired boy dressed in green looked down in surprise at their sudden appearance, breaking off the song he was picking out on a set of pipes.  He made a puzzled exclamation that none of them understood.

 

Kenshin glanced back at his companions, then at the boy again.  "This one is afraid he does not speak your language," he told him politely.  He beckoned to the others, and once again, they moved on.

 

So it was in world after world, until suddenly, as they were leaving a place where a sandy-haired young man and a hulking black figure battled with swords made of light, Kenshin paused.  He sensed...something.  Some thread of love that he had never seen, could not see now, but could _feel_ , had felt for the past fourteen years; and another thread, one he knew very well--

 

He followed them into the next world, which was barely even a world at all, merely a holding place for two prisoners.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

At the sight of three figures appearing out of nowhere, Kenji gasped and scrambled to his feet.  Tomoe also rose, hope blossoming in her heart.  "Akira-san," she whispered, and then she was in his arms.

 

"I can't believe I found you!" he gushed delightedly.  "World after world, I had no _idea_ there were so many, and here you are at last!"  Tomoe smiled, but she was looking over his shoulder, at Kenshin and Kaoru, who were for the first time seeing their son awake.

 

"Kenji," Kaoru gasped.  "Kenji...."  She ran to throw her arms around him.

 

He backed away in alarm, though not quickly enough, and eyed her warily when she had hold of him.  "Do I know you, lady?"

 

Her eyes filled with tears.  "Kenji, it's me.  It's your mother."

 

"My mother?"  He wriggled free and backed up towards Tomoe, eyeing her.  "Is she really, Neesan?"

 

Tomoe smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a little push.  "Of course she is.  Don't be rude."

 

Kenji smiled in relief and took his mother's hands.  "Nice to meet you...um, Mom."  He colored a little.  "I've never called anyone 'Mom' before."

 

Kaoru felt giddy with happiness.  This time, he let her wrap her arms around him again - she held him tightly, breathing in his slightly sweaty smell and feeling the strands of his hair against her cheek.  "Kenji," she whispered.

 

She felt him suddenly stiffen.  "Hey," he said indignantly.  "You stole my face!"  She glanced over her shoulder and realized that he had seen Kenshin - who stood now with drawn sword, his face grave.

 

"Kenshin," she said warningly.

 

His eyes remained on Kenji as he answered.  "Please move away, Kaoru-dono."

 

"Hey!"  She whirled and spread her arms protectively in front of her son.  "Just what are you planning?!"

 

"Enishi plans to rip it out," Kenshin murmured.  "This one thinks there is a better way...."

" _What_?!"

 

"Kaoru-san," Tomoe started, but was drowned out.

 

"No!  _No_!" Kaoru shouted.  "Not when I finally have him back--"

 

"You _don't_ have him back," Akira pointed out.  "He's trapped here, he can't return without Tomoe-san's heart, and there's no way I'm letting that happen."

 

"What are you guys talking about?" Kenji complained.

 

Kenshin was looking at him thoughtfully.  "Kenji, perhaps it is too much to ask for you to hold still so that this one can hit you?"

 

Kaoru looked ready to beat him to a pulp, but Kenji's eyes lit up with nervous excitement.  He silently called for a bokutô, which appeared obligingly in his hands, and stepped around his alarmed mother to face his antagonistic look-alike.  "It's a fight you want, jerk?  Bring it on!  Loser has to find a new face!"

 

Kenshin grinned a little, though with those golden eyes, the effect was a bit scary.  "Only if this one loses - but that won't happen."

 

"Kenji!" Kaoru cried.  "Kenshin!"  Tomoe and Akira pulled her away as Kenshin flew into a charge.  Kenji brought up his wooden sword out of pure instinct, though he was delighted to see the startled look on this Kenshin-person's face when he found his attack blocked.  Not wasting a second, Kenji pushed away and simultaneously brought up a fist.  Kenshin was lucky that his son had not yet mastered the Futae no Kiwami, or his face would have been crushed.  As it was, he was knocked back with a mark that was later to become a very handsome bruise.

 

"Kenshin," Tomoe said, sounding as if she was trying not to laugh, "don't forget - I once granted him sword-skill even greater than yours.  Please be careful."

 

"Understood," Kenshin murmured.

 

"Heheh...."  Kenji looked delighted.  The laugh was premature, however, since in the next second, Kenshin was unleashing a mild Ryuusôsen on him.

 

 _'Missed,'_ Kenshin thought unhappily as the boy plowed to the ground.  Yet he was simultaneously quite proud of the fact that Kenji had blocked the main intent of the attack.

 

"Kenshin, _stop it_!" Kaoru was screaming.  "He's just a _child_!"

 

"Am... _not_...!" Kenji grunted as he staggered back to his feet, his weapon clenched painfully in his fist.  "Look--  Dragon's Nest Strike!"

 

Kenshin just barely escaped getting damaged from having his own move thrown back at him.  "Impressive," he murmured in admiring exasperation.

 

"Yeah, you bet it is," Kenji started to preen, then suddenly realized that he was accepting praise from the enemy.  "Hey!  I don't need to hear that from _you_!  Eat this, loser - _Dragon-hammer Strike_!"

_'Now, where did he pick that up?'_ Kenshin thought in amazement, but there was no time to muse over possible answers.  He was already leaping clear, not just dodging, but going on the offensive as well.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu:  Doryuusen!"

 

It occurred to Kenji, in a flash of wordless thought, that Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu was the same sword-style his father practiced, that his father's name was also Kenshin.  Yet there was no time to process or react to this realization, because just as he regained his footing, the reversed sword was slamming with carefully controlled force into his chest, choking him--  No, his heart was choking him, two of them, pulsing frantically like wild birds struggling to escape a cage....

 

He heard his mother scream as everything went black.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Oh, gee, haven't we been this way before?" Sanosuke said sarcastically as they hurried back the way they had come.

 

"Just shut up and run," Yahiko panted.  "They might need us."

 

"Of course they'll need us, what with those crazy fairies trying to blow up the place."

 

"The explosions have stopped, though.  I don't know about you, but that makes me even more nervous."

 

When they finally reached Kenji's tower, neither the battling fae nor Kenshin and Kaoru were anywhere in sight.  It was only Kenji's body in the glass case, and Sôjirô keeping watch by Tomoe's frozen body as the handmaids chattered excitedly to each other.

 

"What's going on?" Sanosuke demanded.  "Where are they?"

 

Sôjirô shrugged.  "Who knows.  I'm just glad our queen is safe, or at least she was when she left."

 

"Left to where?" Yahiko wanted to know.

 

Sôjirô smiled.  "Where else?  Following him.  It might take a while, but I think things will turn out well after all."

 

The handmaids came swirling around the startled Sanosuke and Yahiko in a twittering feminine cloud.  "There are _princesses_ here, aren't there?" they said breathlessly.  "We want to play with the children!  Souji-chan is being boring!"

 

"S- _Souji-chan_?" Sanosuke choked.

 

"They're hiding from you people," Yahiko said pointedly.  "You think kids would be in the mood to play when they're afraid for their lives?"

 

"But all the dangerous people are gone!" they laughed.  "We will find the little girls and brighten their faces again!"

 

Sanosuke couldn't stop them from leaving the room, and he didn't want them flitting loose around the castle, so he and Yahiko followed them around until they found the girls.  It was occasion for mutual delight.  "They are so _cute_!"

 

"Look at the fairies, Suzume!"

 

"Pretty, pretty!"

 

Sanosuke rolled his eyes.  "I give up."

 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before all trace of fear was forgotten, and the girls were entirely captivated by the beautiful fey women.  "Is Niisan really all right?" Ayame asked anxiously, when the fae had finally convinced her that the scary battle was over.  "And Mommy and Daddy?"

 

"Daddy and Mommy went to get Niisan, and they're all coming back together," Michiko assured them, then she and the others fell about laughing.

 

"I can't take much more of this," Sanosuke muttered to Yahiko, feeling like he was drowning in girly silliness.

 

"Megumi's looking better by the second, right?" Yahiko muttered back with a grin.

 

"Shut up!"

 

Ayame and Suzume were a little disappointed when they returned to the tower and found Kenji still asleep.  "Not happily ever after yet," Ayame sighed, as Michiko held her up to look at him.

 

"Soon," the handmaids assured her.  "Soon we'll have another happily ever after!"

 

"Happy ever after," Suzume declared firmly, patting her brother's face as if to reassure him.

 

Everyone was startled when the three travelers suddenly appeared out of nowhere, one of them yelling vociferously.  "--cannot _believe_ you did that!  Liar to the end, claiming you want to save him, turning right around and trying to kill him--!"

 

Kenshin made no answer as he went to his son, gently shouldered aside the inquisitive women, and drove the Unseelie knife down just beside Kenji's head.  The knife appeared to be plunging into mere air, yet it obviously met some unseen resistance.  He wrenched the knife all the way around in an outline of Kenji's body; the spell turned to glitter and showered harmlessly to the floor.  When the circuit was complete, everyone stared expectantly, hushed and tense.

 

Nothing happened.

 

After a long, long moment, Kenshin folded his arms on the edge of Kenji's coffin and leaned down to rest his head on them, defeated.  The handmaids twittered in confusion, as Kaoru stood still and silent.

 

"Daddy," Ayame finally said in puzzlement, "you forgot the kiss of true love."

 

"What, sweetheart?" he said wearily, not moving.

 

"In the stories!" she said enthusiastically.  "You have to kiss them before they can have happily ever after."

 

He raised his head.

 

"Like this!  Come on, Suzume.  One, two, three!"  Together, they leaned over and planted hearty kisses on either side of their brother's face.

 

Kenji's eyes flew open, and the room was suddenly a flurry of frantic activity.  The little girls backed away, frightened, as their brother writhed and clawed desperately at his chest and throat; Kenshin and Kaoru were grabbing for him helplessly, shouting things they were not even aware of saying; Titania suddenly re-appeared in a surge of fury that quickly faded to concern.  Striding forward, she pushed the others aside and clapped Kenji hard on the back.  With a last agonized convulsion and a sickening gurgle, he rocked forward and coughed something into his hands.

 

"What the heck!" Kaoru shrieked.  "That was _in_ him?!"

 

Kenji wrinkled his nose as he looked at the small, slime-covered apple.  "Ew."  Swaying a little, he lifted his head to get his bearings and caught sight of Tomoe motionless on the floor.  "Neesan!" he gasped, then coughed wretchedly at the pain of his voice passing through his raw throat.  Scrambling out of the glass box, he yelped and collapsed as soon as his feet touched the floor.  "Ow!"

 

"You've been unconscious for days," Kenshin explained, trying to help him up.

 

"Get *cough* off me, face*cough*-stealer!"  Kenji shook free and crawled over to Tomoe, since his legs weren't cooperating.  He stared for a second, then indignantly tapped at the ice spell encasing her.

 

Akira laid a hand protectively over her, and the ice began to slide off her as liquid.  "You must restore her heart to her," he said tightly, ready to take it by force if necessary.

 

"Huh?"  Kenji suddenly looked at the little red thing in his hand.  Then he looked at Tomoe.  "She doesn't *cough* have to _eat_ it, does she?!" he exclaimed in horror.  "It's--"  He winced and swallowed a couple of times.  "It's got my drool and stuff all over it."  Akira made a snatch for it, but Kenji leaned away and reached to press the apple-that-was-not-an-apple against her chest.  He yelped in surprise and jerked away when he suddenly felt the thing pulse under his fingers.  Slowly, it sank down into her flesh.

 

After a moment, Tomoe's eyes drifted open and she gazed up at the ceiling.  Akira caressed her cheek with trembling fingers.  "Tomoe-san?"

 

She turned her head a little to look at him, his name forming silently on her lips.  She reached up a hand and rested it on her chest, where for the first time in years, she could feel her heart beating.  "Kiss me," she finally whispered.  Smiling, weeping, he complied.

 

Kenji was so intent on watching them that he did not notice the approach of his own family, and was startled to suddenly be glomped by three enthusiastic females.

 

"Oh, Kenji!"

 

"Niisan, you're _finally_ awake!"

 

"Yay, Niisan!"

 

Kenshin watched their joy from across the room, smiling, his heart aching.  He became aware that Titania was bristling beside him.  The smile faded, and he turned to fix an ominous stare on her.  "You kept the last term secret, that you did."

 

"What term?" she said innocently.

 

"A kiss.  You meant to claim him for yourself all along."

 

"And so what if I was!" she said defensively.  "I _did_ want his spell broken, you know...just not by any of _you_."  She pouted.  "Now I'll have to win him for myself the hard way."

 

He shook his head.  "He'll never come to you, you know."

 

"Your grandfather did," she huffed.  "You and your father were just defective.  No _normal_ man can resist my charms."

 

"Your enchantments, you mean," he said meaningfully.  "Your true charms, your true desires...who knows."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

 

He looked at her sadly.  "You buried your own heart once, didn't you."

 

"Who told you?" she said in a deadly voice.

 

He looked surprised.  "No one.  It was obvious, that it was."

 

Indignation and fear rose up in her.  "Oh, was it?  Well...well, knowing that won't help you any!  She'll never forgive you, you know."  She left him then, left him to stare at his wife and children and wonder if she was right.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  My version of the answer to the question that will forever nag me - "Why the heck does Kenshin, a Japanese warrior, have red hair and blue eyes?!"  In this fic, he and his father and son inherited their coloring from Titania.

 

References included the Battle Room in _Ender's Game_ (or _Ender's Shadow_ ) by Orson Scott Card, Reepicheep from _The Chronicles of Narnia_ by C.S. Lewis, _Peter Pan_ by J.M. Barrie, and (of course) a scene from the _Star Wars_ movies.


	32. Chapter 32

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 13 - In which Himura Castle suffers a loss.**

 

_"Janet has tucked her green skirts_

_A little above her knee,_

_And she has braided her yellow hair_

_A little above her brow,_

_And she's gone to her father's house,_

_As fast as she can go."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

Hiko strode into the king's chambers, ignoring any and all ceremony as usual.  He found Kenshin eating breakfast alone, staring morosely out the window.  "Lacking for company?" he asked sarcastically.

 

" _Yours_ certainly isn't welcome," Kenshin snapped, not altogether truthfully.  The queen this morning was taking breakfast in her new (temporary, he hoped) quarters, though she at least was accompanied by her children and her friends.  Compared to this, Kenshin found he preferred the Great Hall after all.

 

"My feelings exactly," Hiko went on.  "Anyway, I came to say goodbye."

 

Kenshin had just scooped up a morsel of food, and now sat holding it for much too long, forgetting that it was supposed to be conveyed to his mouth.  "You're leaving," he finally mumbled.

 

"I've got no reason to stick around," the magician pointed out.  "I've completed my errand, and the air in this place is suddenly stifling."  He shrugged.  "Sayônara."

 

He turned to go, but paused when Kenshin called after him.  "Shishô...what do you mean to do, when you find him?"

 

Hiko grinned.  "Why would _you_ care?"

 

"No killing," Kenshin said firmly.  "This one will stop you himself if that is your intention."

 

Hiko rolled his eyes.  "Ignoring the statement of pure idiocy that just issued from your mouth, do you honestly think that even I would murder the Faerie King at a time like this?  He's a brat - and, incredibly, even stupider than you - but even so...."  That grin was getting scarier by the moment.  "...there are more effective ways of teaching punks like him a lesson."  With that, he gave a mocking bow, then swirled his cape around himself and disappeared.

 

Kenshin sighed.  He wasn't hungry anymore.  He was also beginning to wonder if maybe he was wrong to be giving Kaoru space, trying to respect her feelings.  Was he only succeeding in pushing her farther away?

 

He sat thinking tensely for a while.  A formal apology, then.  Probably in front of the others, too, since she had been refusing to grant him any private audiences.  Legally, of course, he could override her, but calling on that power seemed rather counterproductive in this situation.  Kenshin rubbed his hand over his face, then narrowed his eyes and rose from the table.

 

He had no sooner yanked open the outer door when he found Sanosuke, equally startled, standing just outside with his hand reaching for the knob.  "Sano?"

 

The bodyguard grinned.  "Great timing.  Let's go."

 

"What is it, Sano?  What happened?" Kenshin asked as they moved quickly down the hallways toward Kaoru's new rooms.

 

"No one's hurt or anything," Sanosuke assured him.  "It's just that we're all sick of this."

 

Kenshin's eyes narrowed suspiciously.  "Sano...."

 

Sanosuke was spared from answering, because at that point, they rounded a corner and found Kaoru standing in the corridor with her lady-in-waiting and her other guards, looking annoyed.  "...going on?  Why did you bring me here?"

 

Megumi opened her mouth to answer, but her attention shifted before she could do so.  Noticing that Megumi's gaze was focused over her shoulder, Kaoru turned and found Kenshin approaching.  "What is going _on_ here?" she demanded again.

 

Megumi gave a hard, humorless little smile.  "Ken-Ô.  Kaoru-Jooh.  You've got at _least_ a couple of hours, so feel free to take your time."  She nodded at the men.

 

"What--?" Kaoru started, but Sôjirô was politely opening the door of a nearby closet that she had not even noticed, papered as it was to match the surrounding walls; and Kenshin was closing his eyes with grim humor as he suddenly understood, making no resistance as Sanosuke seized him by the shoulder and shoved him inside.  By the time Kaoru realized what was happening and mustered up an appropriately outraged screech, she had been pushed in after him, the door had been shut, and something very heavy-sounding was being dragged in front of it.

 

"You wouldn't _dare_!" she gasped, and lunged to open the door.  The handle turned obligingly enough, but no matter how hard she shoved, the door wouldn't budge.  "Let me out!" she shouted angrily, pounding on the obstinate slab of wood.  "Let me out right _now_!  I'm your queen!  I can do horrible things to you!"  No answer.  Gritting her teeth, she whirled and glared daggers into the black depths of the closet, where she could hear Kenshin's breathing in the confined space.  The soft, regular sound startled her with its intimacy.  "You put them up to it, didn't you!  I can't _believe_ you!"  Shouting was good.  Shouting filled the darkness and drowned out that breathing.

 

"This one certainly did not," he replied, slightly injured.  Though it did work out to his advantage....  It would be a fairly easy matter for him to break down the door, but he didn't want to, not yet.  "Kaoru-dono," he said quietly, "it was this one's intention to apologize.  To beg for forgiveness on hands and knees, if that's what it takes."

 

"Apologize," she spat.  "You think you can just _apologize_ for running a sword through my mother.  For _lying_ to me, abandoning me, for humiliating me!  For _attacking_ my son!"  She felt the sudden heat in her face, because she knew, somewhere in a part of her mind she wanted to ignore, that whatever he had done in that strange place had brought Kenji back, had revived him.  However, she was in no mood to even want to be reasonable.  "You're a liar!" she screamed, to drown out her own thoughts.  "I hate you!"

 

Then she waited to do battle, her fists clenched and her breaths like thunder in the silence.

 

His own line of thinking was different.  "Kaoru-dono," he said in a low voice.  "What else can this one do?  How can amends be made?"  When she didn't answer, too mired in her rage, "Please."

 

The desperate word worked through the defenses of fury in her heart to touch the wounds beneath.  She couldn't stand it, that touch; to open her heart would be to expose those wounds to the light.  "Shut up!" she screamed.  "There's nothing!"  Then, because she could tell without seeing that it hurt him, " _Nothing_!"  She choked in a breath, and was more furious than ever to hear the sob in her throat as she did so.  "No, I guess there _is_ something," she hissed through gritted teeth.  "You can go away.  You can leave me alone.  That's what you can do.  That's what you've always _wanted_ to do, right?"

 

No answer.  The dark silence pressed in on her, grew louder and louder, until she finally gave in to the sobs crowding in her throat.  She leaned back against the door and slid slowly down it to the floor, crying, pulling her knees up to her chest.  She wanted so much to feel comforting arms around her, and at the same time she fiercely willed that unseen figure in the darkness to embrace her, so that she could have the satisfaction of pushing him away.

 

Minutes went by, and he neither touched her nor spoke.  She finally gave up and let her tensely waiting body relax, and her weeping soften to something more genuine.  "I wish," she whispered brokenly, "I could go home."  The sobs burst out of her, renewed and desperate.  "Oh, I want to go home!" she wailed.  She wanted her papa...she wanted her mother-- but her mother was long dead, killed at the hands of the murderer locked in this very same room.  Kaoru suddenly screamed and lashed out at him.  He caught her flailing limbs, and at his touch, she jerked her hands away and cradled them against her chest.

 

His voice, when it finally came out of the darkness, was at her same level - he must have lowered himself to the floor as well.  The words were low and halting, as if spoken with difficulty.  "You are not a - prisoner, here."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said bitterly.  "As if I could just walk out of here and never come back."

 

"Kaoru-dono, from the bottom of his heart, this one wishes you to stay.  But if you...truly desire to leave, you will not be hindered."  He said again, this time a little coldly, "You are not a prisoner here."

 

She stared, trying and failing to see his face in the darkness.  There was only part of a foot, in the shaft of light from under the door, and the tip of a sheath.  "You mean you...."  She had to wet her lips and try again.  "You mean you'd really...let me go?"

 

"Please stay," he whispered.

 

"Answer me!" she shouted.

 

There was a deep sigh.  "If you truly wish to leave, you will not be stopped."

 

Kaoru put her hands over her face, overwhelmed.  To leave this castle, where she had expected to live the rest of her life...to leave _him_.  Could she?  Did she really want to?  A deep part of her was crying, that part of her heart was breaking.  But nearer to the surface, still roiling with anger and betrayal, the idea was stirring a bitter excitement, a vicious gloating.  Would he really let her leave?

 

"In three days, then," she said testingly.  "I'll send a message to my father, give the rider a head start."  She paused, and decided not to add, _'Give the girls time to say good-bye.'_   "It won't take that long to pack, that's for sure.  I'm only taking what I brought with me."  Which was to say, a single small chest of articles with sentimental value.  She heard him move sharply, and showed her teeth in a not-smile.  "I'm not taking anything that will remind me of this place...except the children, of course."

 

This last was a breathless, terrified challenge, for legally, the children belonged to him alone.  It was one of the many archaic laws they had never gotten around to altering, because there had seemed to be so many more important matters to deal with first.  When she felt him moving toward her, she scrambled to her feet in a panic, trying to push him away when she felt his body close to hers, crowding her against the door.  His low, hard voice was right next to her ear, but all he said was, "You may take the children, but they will be sent for from time to time.  Do you understand?"

 

Her already quickened breathing became harsh.  _From time to time._   The phrase lent a frightening finality to this mad plan of hers.  For a moment, terrified, she clung to him.  But when she felt his arms coming up to hold her, she was seized with a rush of loathing, and she pushed him violently away.  "Fine," she said coldly.  "That sounds like a satisfactory arrangement."  It wasn't, of course, far from it; but what else was there to do?

 

When the door finally opened, Kaoru was sitting in the sudden light with arms and legs crossed, staring straight ahead.  Kenshin sat deceptively relaxed in the shadows against the back wall, face hidden.

 

"Well?" Megumi said expectantly.  "Have you two worked things out yet?"

 

"Yes," Kaoru said calmly.  She rose and moved imperiously back to her rooms.

 

Kenshin emerged, quietly as a shadow, and drifted away in the opposite direction.

 

"You know," Yahiko commented, "somehow I get the feeling that things didn't go like we planned."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Kaoru," Megumi hissed, three days later, "you can't do this!  This is bordering on divorce; do you realize what that would mean for _both_ countries?"

 

"I don't care what the official explanation is," Kaoru said coldly, leaning against the side of the carriage as she waited.  "An extended visit with my father, a chance for Kenji to know the other country he'll probably rule - as long as I never have to see _him_ again, put whatever spin on it you want."

 

"Kaoru," Megumi said desperately, "is this really what you want?  I can't believe this, I just can't.  Having seen the two of you before all this started...."

 

" _He_ sure doesn't seem to bothered," Kaoru said angrily.  "Hasn't said a word to me since then, glaring all the time--"

 

"Kaoru," Megumi pointed out in disbelief, "he's miserable.  Can't you see?  You're killing him."

 

"Why don't _you_ cheer him up, then?!" Kaoru suddenly burst out.  "I've seen the way you look at him, ever since you've known him - well, guess what, Megumi, now you can _have_ him!  I'm sure he'll be delighted to find such an eager, _beautiful_ replacement!"

 

Megumi would have slapped her, if she hadn't thought it beneath her dignity to grace this tantrum with such a reaction.  "Is that it, then?" she said quietly.  It hurt more than she thought it would.  "All this time...all these years...you've been jealous of _me_?  When _you_ were the one he chose?"

 

Kaoru covered her face again, as if she could push the tears back into her eyes if she pressed hard enough.  She was so preoccupied with this that she did not notice, as Megumi put her arms around her, that the older woman had tears in her eyes as well.

 

Across the courtyard near the entryway to the castle, Kenshin was spending a few precious last minutes with his daughters.  He sat on the steps with Suzume curled in his lap, her thumb in her mouth, as Ayame stood on the landing eye to eye with him, looking a little wilted.  "Please come, Daddy?" she said in a small voice, reaching out to grasp his sleeve.  "What if Grandpa's scary?"

 

"He is a kind man," Kenshin assured her, reaching to curl his fingers around hers.  Her hand was so small, almost swallowed up in his.

 

For a while, she seemed silently absorbed in stroking the calluses and little scars on his palm.  "Please come," she whispered again.

 

"This one...can't," he whispered back.

 

"I'm glad I'll never have to be a king," she said dolefully.  "They have to do so much work they can't go on vacations."

 

He closed his eyes.  "Yes."  The word felt like a lie in his mouth.

 

"But you'll still love me, Daddy?" Ayame finally asked anxiously.  "If we're gone so long, you won't forget me?"

 

"Of course not," he said, nearly crying as he swept her into a tight hug with the arm that was not around Suzume.

 

Ayame clung to him for a while, then wriggled free when she remembered something she had seen her mother do once.  She pulled at the ribbon in her hair - it got stuck, and he untangled it for her.  Then she took a little tuft of his hair and tied the ribbon around it, the task slow and difficult for her little-girl hands.  It took a long time, and he sat patiently, every ounce of his attention focused on her touch.  Finally she managed it, a wad of silk knotted precariously around one of his bangs.  "That's only a loan," she announced.  "You have to make sure you give it back."

 

His smile was rather watery.  "Of course."  He reached up to hide his face.  When he felt reasonably under control again, he cleared his throat and told her affectionately, "There is a gift for you, as well."  He had asked Tomoe to enchant it for him.  It had been close, but she had managed to prepare it in time.  Doubtless Akira had not been pleased that her attention was so focused elsewhere so near their wedding day, but by this time, there was very little Tomoe would not have done for Kenshin.

 

At that, Suzume, who had been leaning sadly against him like a warm, slightly sticky bag of sand, suddenly came to life.  "Gif," she said urgently, sitting up and twisting to look up at him.  Her real plea was not lost on him - she wanted something from him, it didn't matter what; something to take with her and have in his stead while they were apart _._

 

"You must share it," he told them, drawing it out.  "All right?"

 

"Yes, Daddy," Ayame said eagerly, already reaching for the little object.  It was a traveling mirror, about the size of Kenshin's palm, the cover decorated with etchings of flowers and, half-hidden in the design, a delicate little fairy.  "It's a big-girl mirror!" Ayame said breathlessly.  Her own were sturdy and difficult to break, obviously meant for children.  This was a thing she would still be able to cherish as an adult.

 

"Wanna see!" Suzume insisted, snatching it out of her sister's hand.  They would have scuffled, but he said quickly, "Ayame-chan, listen carefully.  This is a magic mirror."

 

She paused, gazing up at him open-mouthed.  "It _is_?"

 

"Yes.  It will show you things when you ask.  Look."  He gently took the mirror from Suzume and spoke to it.  "Please show us Prince Himura Kenji."

 

The mirror suddenly went dark, then cleared to show Kenji in the kitchens, staring wide-eyed at a basket one of the cooks was pushing into his arms.  His voice could be heard, thin and clear, slightly altered by distance and enchantment.  _"I just wanted a couple of snacks to hide in my pockets!  What am I gonna do with this thing?"_

_"You can share it with your sisters, the princesses,"_ the woman suggested with a laugh.

_"But I only--"_   He suddenly broke off, darting suspicious glances around the room.  _"Is someone watching us?"_

 

"Enough," Kenshin told the mirror, as the girls burst into laughter.  The glass darkened again, then cleared to show their own reflections.

 

"We can watch other people in it?" Ayame said in delight.  "It really is magic!"

 

"Yes."  He hesitated.  "Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan...if you want to talk to this one, tell the mirror.  This one will know that you are calling."

 

"We'll still be able to see you, even when we're gone?" Ayame said in relief.

 

"And this one will be able to see you.  So," he grinned a little sheepishly, "please call often."

 

"I will, Daddy!"

 

"Mine," Suzume said stubbornly, clutching the mirror to her chest.

 

"Suzume, we have to _share_ ," Ayame chided her.

 

"Mine!"

 

"Let her have it for now, Ayame-chan.  You can play with it later."

 

Kenshin held them until he sensed Kenji approaching.  Then he reluctantly got to his feet, Suzume still in his arms.

 

"I'm ready," Kenji announced as he came down the steps, swinging the basket of food and oblivious to the greenish liquid dripping from one corner.  He came to a halt when he saw his father waiting.  "Dad," he acknowledged warily.

 

Kenshin nodded.  "Son."  They regarded each other for a moment.  "You will be missed," Kenshin finally said.

 

Kenji shifted uncomfortably.  "Yeah," he replied, his tone making it clear that this was to be no emotional farewell.

 

Kenshin sighed.  "Take care of your mother, and your sisters."

 

Kenji nodded.  Silence stretched between them again.  The girls fidgeted.  Kenji finally shrugged.  "Well, bye."  He suddenly flushed and looked away.  "And I guess, thanks, for...whatever."

 

Kenshin suddenly crossed the steps between them and put his hand on his son's shoulder.  "Kenji.  This one is proud of you."

 

"For what?" Kenji snapped harshly.  "I haven't done anything."

 

Regardless, it was true, and there might not be another chance to say the words again.  Kenshin leaned close, the words firm.  "This one," he said strongly, "is proud of you."

 

"Whatever," Kenji mumbled.  He turned away, irritated at the tight sensation in his throat.

 

Kaoru noticed them descending the stairs, and came over to reclaim her daughters.  Suzume immediately began fussing, clinging to Kenshin's clothes when Kaoru tried to lift her out of his arms; the girl's cries dissolved into tears when she lost her grip.  She slumped against her mother, sobbing disconsolately, as Kaoru grabbed a bewildered Ayame's hand and started to walk away.

 

"Wait, Mommy!" Ayame suddenly cried.

 

"What, Ayame-chan?" Kaoru said hurriedly, not stopping.

 

Ayame frantically set her feet and tried to pull back.  "Mommy, you forgot!  You forgot Daddy's good-bye kiss!"

 

Kaoru came to a stop, feeling as if she had been punched in the gut.  A tense silence settled over everyone.

 

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Ayame finally quavered.

 

Woodenly, Kaoru handed Suzume to Megumi, then turned and slowly made her way back to Kenshin, who waited in silence.  She forced a smile onto her face, which seemed to reassure the girls only slightly.

 

The grip of her fingers on his shoulders hurt, but he did not care, he looked straight into her eyes until she closed them (to make this more bearable?).  She pressed her lips to his so that he felt the words rather than heard them - _I hate you_.  Then she was gone, walking away from him, helping his children into the coach, out of sight.

 

Sanosuke merely gave him a disgusted look before turning away to mount; Sôjirô gave a polite little nod.  Yahiko paused long enough to say quietly, angrily, firmly, "We're coming back.  All right?  You'd better be ready."  Then they were all moving away.

 

He watched until he couldn't see them anymore.  Then he watched some more.

 

_To be continued...._


	33. Chapter 33

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 14 - In which Tomoe's long wait is over.**

 

_"At the mirk and midnight hour_

_She heard the bridles sing,_

_She was as glad of that_

_As any earthly thing."_

Tam Lin

o.o.o

She had wanted a small ceremony, something warm and close and safe, but of course that was impossible.  It was the first amiable mingling of the two Faerie courts in nearly a hundred years.  The Unseelie refused to be robbed of a splendid opportunity to party, and the Faerie Queen and her handmaids wouldn't hear of their beloved foster-sister getting married without _them_ in attendance.

 

Tomoe had hoped that Hiko would put a stop to it all, but to her dismay, he had gracefully given way to the inevitable and diverted his energies instead into policing the festivities so that they remained as bloodless as possible.  No mean feat, even if he _was_ the new Unseelie regent (which he still had not forgiven her for, though even he couldn't argue with the fact that he was the only one with power enough to control the dark fae while Enishi still held the king's magic).

 

Tomoe had not expected Kenshin to come, but he had.  Weighted down with weary grief, nevertheless he had appeared quietly amidst the revelers, his presence on this day worth far more to her than any object he could have given her.  "This one's spell-work was never impressive to begin with," he had said in a tired voice, gazing at her with a ghost of his old smile.  "It's been even worse of late, so it was thought that a gift of the mortal world might be better."

 

She received the little hair ornament solemnly, her eyes drawn to the clear brightness of its colors, the elegant simplicity of its design.  As she was opening her mouth to thank him, he reached for her hands again and showed her the hidden function of the three largest jewels - when pressed, each one released a little spike of a certain metal:  admantine, mythril, iron.  "In case you ever run into some enchantment of an opposing nature to your own magic," he said mildly.  "Perhaps it might be useful."

 

She smiled, wrapping one of her gauzy sleeves around her hand and carefully pressing the iron spike back into hiding.  "Indeed.  It's very beautiful...Kenshin-kun."  She looked at him intently (and a little anxiously) as she added the honorific, hoping that he would understand, that her love and gratitude would still come through.

 

She need not have worried.  He smiled back at her, his eyes moving briefly to Akira standing stiffly at her side before responding.  "This one is very happy for you, Tomoe-dono.  For you both."

 

He stayed only for the ceremony, then disappeared again before anybody noticed.  _'Good-bye,'_ she thought, when she saw that he was missing, _'the first man I loved....'_

 

Titania had looked a little too gleeful at the gift-giving afterwards, but Tomoe had already made preparations.  Before the Faerie Queen could offer her gift, the enchantress moved first, to bestow a gift of her own.  "My queen Titania," she said solemnly, "please first accept this as a token of my affection for you.  May there be peace between our people so long as we both live."

 

Titania, looking rather at a loss, accepted the kitten and sat staring at it curled up in her cupped hands.  It was a war-cat, its fangs and claws already deadly, but as it stretched out luxuriously and gazed at Titania with dreamy blue eyes, the Faerie Queen realized that it was a challenge, to never let this creature see the battles it was bred for.  "It's a female," she said slowly.  "You know I hate females."

 

"Therefore," Tomoe said carefully, "your pleasure with such a one is truly admirable."

 

Titania got the point.  Her face suddenly breaking into a smile, she tucked the kitten into the neckline of her gown and calmly smashed the necklace she had been about to give Tomoe.  It had been a beautiful thing, bedecked with jewels in a lovely design, but its destruction briefly filled the hall with a noxious odor that set the Unseelie coughing desperately.  Akira, horrified at the near-treachery, started to rise; Tomoe inconspicuously laid a hand just over his knee and gripped hard until he fell back again.

 

"Like deserves like," Titania said airily, drawing another gift into the open.  She had had both ready...just in case.

 

As the smell of hakubaikô filled the air, Tomoe said, very quietly, "You know what this scent means to me."

 

"Kenshin carries a sword, just as Battousai once did," Titania pointed out, a little defensively, as she settled the circlet over Tomoe's hair.  "Yet they mean nothing the same, right?"

 

Tomoe sat there in surprise, sensing through the enchantment on this thing.  There was a spell for the beauty of youth, though not the accompanying physical effects; it was not her lost immortality, but it was far better than artificial glamour.  Tomoe knew the day would come when she would be grateful for it, as she continued to age beside her unchanging husband, but for the present, she was more interested in the amplification charm.  The wearer of this circlet would find her magic three times more powerful than usual.  "Right," she finally whispered in answer.

 

The festivities lasted long into the night.  At one point, Akira finally managed to break free of a drinking game he had been getting the worst of, and peered around blearily for his bride.  She was nowhere to be seen.  As this fact became known and those who cared got more and more upset, Akira tried to remember something important.  Something about Tomoe, about someone she loved (someone who wasn't him, grrr), something under...under the ground....  That was it, or as close as he could get in this state.

 

Akira found himself crawling.  He frowned, pulled himself up laboriously with the help of a giggling serving-girl, and clung to the walls for support as he made his way through the corridors to that dark, down-leading passage.  The people who had followed him out of curiosity quickly turned back when they realized where he was going.  He descended alone.

 

Tomoe had come down to try one last time, to see if Enishi would return before she began her new life as a married woman.  Her eyes could pierce the darkness of this bare, echoing place beneath the palace, and she made her way sure-footedly to the two great pillars where her brother stood imprisoned.  She could see at once that it was no use - his expression was blacker than ever, and blood dripped slowly to the ground from his hands, where the chains were wrapped around his outstretched arms.

 

She tried anyway.  "Enishi," she said softly.

 

His voice, when it came, was low and murderous.  "Where is Battousai?  I'll kill him...I'll kill him...."

 

"Enishi," she whispered.  "I am free.  It's done - it's over.  Please, Enishi...can't you forgive him?  For _your_ sake, brother.  Can't you see--?"

 

"I'll kill him!" he suddenly screamed.  "For what he did to us--  No, death is too good for him!  I'll kill everyone he loves, and then I'll let him _live_ in that hell, 'til he _rots_!"

 

"Enishi!"  She pressed her hands to her mouth, for the blood was now trickling in a steady stream as he moved with restless violence between the two pillars.  She went to him quickly, put her arms around him, felt him grow still in her embrace.

 

"Neesan," he whispered.  "Please...free me."

 

"Enishi," she murmured, struggling to hold back her tears, "only you can do that."  It was true, for the chains that bound him to these two pillars were forged not of iron, but of hatred; they were only fastened to him by his own grip.  Even now, he clenched them so tightly that the blood was running down his arms, congealing in the metal links, staining her wedding gown with spots of crimson.

 

Her heart aching, she lowered her face to his tortured palms and kissed them.  He groaned softly and sagged back, relaxing his hold a little.  The flow of blood slowed, but still he did not let go.

 

"Enishi.  It is from my wedding ceremony that I have come to you."  He made no response.  "I...I am now a bride.  I have a new family to think of now, Enishi."

 

His head was hanging.  He groaned again, with a pain that had nothing to do with his imprisonment.

 

Narrowing her eyes, she stepped close again and leaned to speak into his ear.  "Enishi."  Her voice was hard.  "This is not the end for you.  This is not who you are, or where you are supposed to be.  Do you understand me?"  Still no response.  His mind was clouded with hatred, he did not hear her.  Yet she knew that her words fell on his heart, and that one day he would need them, and that they must be there for him to find them.  "I will be waiting for you, Enishi," she told him.  "Tomorrow, in a month, no matter how many years pass...it doesn't matter.  I will be waiting for you."

 

A sound caught her attention.  She turned to find Akira stumbling in the darkness, his hands stretched out for her.  She closed her eyes and laid her hand on Enishi's head.  Then she turned away and went to her husband.

 

Akira yelped when she touched his fingers.  "Tomoe?!"

 

"I'm here," her reassuring voice came out of the darkness.  She put his arm around her shoulders so she could help him as they made their way slowly back to the stairs.  It was difficult going this time.  "My love," she finally said, her tone slightly amused, "please don't tell me you were foolish enough to come down here without a light."

 

"Don't need one," he mumbled in confusion.  Then, because it suddenly struck him as brilliantly romantic, " _You're_ my light, Tomoe!"  Such a declaration ought to be followed up with a passionate kiss, so he was surprised and hurt when she held him away.

 

"Not until you've sweetened your breath a bit," she said, shaking her head.  "This is why I wanted a small wedding....  Are you sure you're up for tonight?"

 

"'Course I am," he asserted.  Then, curiously, "What's happening tonight?"

 

She chuckled.  "Perhaps not.  Well, I have waited this long, one more night won't--"  Her voice broke off with a yelp as he suddenly wrapped both arms around her and ducked his head to kiss her, where the neckline of her dress was at its lowest.

 

"Oh yeah," he said vaguely, and reached to expose more of her flesh to his kisses.

 

"I would appreciate it," she gasped, trying to hold back laughter as she struggled, "if you wait to tear my dress until _after_ I don't need it anymore."

 

"Oh...."

 

She kissed his cheek, then pulled his arm back over her shoulders so they could continue up the steps.  This night would likely not be among the most enjoyable of the ones to come - but it would be the first of many, for which reason alone she already treasured it.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Perhaps you've figured out by now that Titania doesn't understand herself very well at all...she both hates and loves Tomoe at the same time.  On the one hand, Tomoe is Unseelie and once "stole" Kenshin, yet she is kind and strong, and acts almost like a mother figure to Titania (though Ti has no clue of that; she'd be furious if she ever realized it).


	34. Chapter 34

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 15 - In which Kamiya Castle suffers an intruder.**

 

_"Carterhaugh, it is my own,_

_My daddy gave it to me,_

_I'll come and go by Carterhaugh,_

_And ask no leave of thee."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

Step, Faerie.  Step, Earth.

 

Crossing between the worlds used to be so difficult, a drain on his diluted magic.  By now, however, he had done it so many times that he could do it in his sleep.  In fact, he had once, had woken up beside her and reached sleepily for her warmth, before he remembered that she was no longer his to reach for.

 

Now he emerged as usual in Kaoru's old room at her father's castle, where quiet breathing was the only sound to break the midnight hush.  He turned to Kenji first, kneeling beside the travel-bed and gazing for a while at his son.  He knew from previous investigation that Kenji had his own quarters during the daytime (not that he used them much, this boy who had virtually been raised outdoors), but Kaoru, perhaps understandably, insisted on having all three of her children with her at night.

 

"Oh, Kenji," Kenshin murmured, his voice so low as to barely disturb the quiet.  "It seems that this one is permitted to see your face only in sleep...."  There was no change in that peaceful, oblivious expression, so lively and mischievous in the daylight.

 

Kenshin bowed his head for a moment, then rose and moved to where Kaoru slept curled protectively around her small daughters.  He lowered his weight onto the bed as stealthily as a cat, moving so carefully that they barely stirred when he finally settled beside them.  He gazed at them for a long time, the waning moon at his back.

 

Kaoru's face looked troubled, even in sleep, and he dared not even reach out for her.  Yet the girls slept like angels, Ayame occasionally mumbling an incoherent dream-phrase, Suzume with her thumb in her mouth.  He touched their hair affectionately, smoothed away the sleep-tangles, and pulled the blankets to cover them more securely.

 

It happened when he was gently blotting away a trickle of drool from the corner of Suzume's mouth - her beautiful dark eyes suddenly popped open.  For a second, they stared at each other, frozen.  Then she gasped in delight and sat up, her mouth opening in excitement; he knew, at her age, that hushing her in time would be impossible; if Kaoru awakened--  He seized her and took them both away.

 

Faerie flickered by, then in the next instant, he was sprawled on the floor of his office at home, with her in his arms.  "Daddy!" she was exclaiming, too focused to even notice, at first, that they were no longer at 'Grandpa's Castle.'  "Daddy's home!"

 

"Ahahaha...sort of."  He sat up, pulling her into his lap with a rueful smile.

 

She was looking around now, confused.  "There's no bed."

 

"Do you want to go back to bed, sweetheart?"

 

"Wanna story," she said firmly, falling back against him with a heavy smack and putting her thumb back in her mouth in a businesslike manner.

 

He laughed.  "All right.  Any requests?"

 

She tilted back her head to gaze up at him, uncomprehending.  The upside-down view of his face made her giggle.

 

He smiled down at her.  _'She is so precious,'_ he thought sadly.  "What kind of story do you want to hear, Suzume-chan?"

 

The thumb came out just long enough for the confident demand, "Wanna princess."

 

"Good choice."  He cleared his throat theatrically, and her eyes sparkled.  "Once upon a time," her eyes closed in contentment, "there lived a princess who was the most beautiful in all the land.  Her name was Princess Suzume, and she...."  He trailed off, having forgotten to come up with a plot.

 

That didn't seem to matter, however.  Already, Suzume's mouth had stilled around her thumb, and she did not protest the pause.  Kissing her for what he hoped would not be the last time, he rose with the sleeping child in his arms and, a little apprehensively, stepped back through the worlds to Kamiya Castle.

 

To his immense relief, Kaoru was still asleep, but it was obvious she would not maintain that state for long.  She was shifting restlessly, her hands groping blindly for her daughters.  Ayame, disturbed by the motions, was pulling away in her sleep, also close to awakening.  Kenshin lay Suzume between them and hurriedly vanished.

 

A moment later, Kaoru opened her eyes.  She sat up, breathing hard, checking several times to make sure that the children were all still with her.  She had dreamed they were gone....

 

Ayame woke up, fussy and bleary-eyed.  "Mommy, can't sleep," she complained.

 

"Hush, Ayame-chan," Kaoru murmured, patting her soothingly.  The girl whimpered irritably, but soon fell back asleep.  Kenji lay undisturbed, and after a minute, Kaoru got up to make sure he was still breathing.  He was.

 

She stood there for a while, staring intently around the room, making sure there was no one hiding in the darkness.  She briefly considered lighting a candle, but then decided against it.  Such a tiny light would only make the shadows even blacker.  Sighing, she finally climbed back into bed and lay awake for a long time.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The next morning at breakfast, which they had with the king in one of the dining rooms, Suzume asked unexpectedly, "We going home, Mama?"

 

As Kaoru looked startled, her father laughed and patted the child on the back.  "What's wrong, Suzume-chan?" he joked.  "Tired of your grandpa already?"  She smiled shyly, not having the words to tell him how she felt.

 

"This _is_ home, Suzume," Kenji told her matter-of-factly, then tried to see if he could fit a whole egg into his mouth.

 

"Mind your table manners," Kaoru told him, then smiled at Suzume.  "We're staying here for a while, sweetheart.  We're going to have some fun today!  There's a fair going on at one of the villages, so I thought--"

 

"Want Daddy back!" Suzume suddenly wailed, and burst into tears.  Kaoru quickly gathered her up in her arms, gritting her teeth in anger at the thought that _he_ was still hurting them, even from so far away.

 

"Cheer up, Suzume!" Ayame was telling her anxiously.  "We'll use the mirror again today, okay?"

 

"No!" Suzume yelled.  "Want Daddy _here_ again!"  A cold suspicion crept into Kaoru's mind.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It had not been an enjoyable day.  Suzume had been cranky almost from start to finish, and after a while, Ayame had caught on to her bad mood.  Kenji had been as energetic as ever, but refused to go to bed until past midnight, so Kaoru now found herself lying awake at two o'clock in the morning, her mind churning as she listened to her children sleep.

 

Suddenly - she wasn't sure what it was.  A soft noise, a step; panicked, she shot upright, but only caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eyes before--  There was nothing there.

 

Kaoru got out of bed and actively searched the room, but all was well.  Had she just imagined it, then?  A presence, a figure in the darkness?  She shivered, thinking of old childhood fears of the dark.  She couldn't call for a lamp, it would disturb the children.

 

Finally, she rubbed her hands over her face.  She had to know for sure....

 

A search of the room proved fruitless; the little mirror had not been laid on a table or dropped on the floor.  As gently as she could, she tried to see if the mirror was actually on one of the girls, but such a search was impossible to do thoroughly without waking them.  Having servants go down to the laundry room and search through the girls' discarded clothes at this hour of the night would be ridiculous, and she could just ask the girls to borrow the mirror later....  Except, she didn't want them to see her talking to Kenshin, especially since it was not likely to be a pleasant conversation.

 

Kaoru gave up and lay down again, watchful, but the night passed slowly and nothing else happened.

 

The next day, Suzume's bad temper had been replaced with a lethargy that was heartbreaking to watch.  Ayame, wanting to help but not knowing how or what was wrong, got frustrated and started throwing uncharacteristic tantrums.  Kenji, more eager than ever to escape his moody womenfolk, had contrived to get himself taken along on a day-long expedition with the soldiers.  Kaoru was ready to tear out her hair by the time twilight fell, snapping at the well-meaning nurse and then bursting into tears when she tried to apologize.

 

"There, there," the nurse said soothingly, patting her on the back.  "Everything's all right, love."

 

"It's not," Kaoru wailed, "it's not...."

 

As soon as the girls were in bed, Kaoru shut the bedroom door and sent the maids out of the sitting room, then took a deep breath.  "Kenshin," she called, angry and embarrassed at how stupid this was.  "Kenshin!  Kenshin!"  She held her breath, tense, but nothing happened.

 

She frowned.  Then it occurred to her that, even though it was said that a fae would come if you called its name three times, Kenshin was only a quarter fae.  Feeling ridiculous, she tried calling him nine more times.

 

She jumped when he stumbled out of thin air, his skin glistening in the lamplight, soaked hair dripping onto his bare shoulders, the carpet at his feet saturated with water in seconds.  He was half-wrapped in a towel, most likely the only thing her twelve repetitions had given him time to get out and reach for.  This he now finished securing around his waist before asking dryly, "You called?"

 

"Have you been coming here?" she demanded.

 

He smiled tightly.  "This one is here."

 

"I mean before!" she burst out.  "Suzume--"  She saw him close his eyes briefly, and for a moment was breathless with horror.  Then she shrieked, seized the closest thing at hand (a jewelry box), and flung it at him.  He caught it instinctively, though that didn't stop the cascade of necklaces and bracelets and rings that came bursting out all over him.

 

The door opened, and a couple of concerned maids peeked their heads in.  "Y-Your Majesty," one of them said to Kaoru as she stared wide-eyed at the barely-clothed man in the room.

 

"It's fine, Eva," Kaoru said shortly.  "Please go back and wait outside."

 

"But this person...!"

 

"He's my--"  Kaoru stopped, aware that he was watching her intently.  "He is...the father of Kenji and the girls," she finally said grudgingly.

 

The maids gasped.  "Oh!  Your Majesty," the one who had been speaking stammered, this time to Kenshin.  "Forgive me for--"

 

"I said leave, Eva!"

 

Kenshin smiled politely and bowed in a manner that expressed respectful agreement.  The maids curtseyed to them both and hurriedly backed out of the room again.

 

The two of them were quiet for a while, not looking at each other.  He went over to set down the jewelry box, briefly caressing its lid as if he wished it was her skin.  "Well," he finally said, still looking at the box, "if that is all, then this one will take his leave, that he will."

 

" _No_ , it's not all!" she burst out.  "You've been coming here!  _Here!_   How?  Why?!  You're not allowed!"

 

"It is actually not up to you to determine what is 'allowed' here," he pointed out.

 

"Then," she growled, "I'll go to the one who _is_ in charge, and _make_ sure you're not allowed!  Papa'll never let--"  She suddenly broke off, as she realized that her father did not know the truth.  He was aware that her visit was no holiday, that Kenshin had done something to displease her, but she had until now been reluctant to give him specifics.  If he were to find out that his wife had died at the hand of his son-in-law....

 

Evidently, the same thought had occurred to Kenshin.  He looked sick.

 

"Don't come here again," she said coldly, pulling up royal hauteur to cover the turmoil in her mind.  "This is not your territory, you have no right to be here.  I don't want to see you again, do you hear me?"

 

"You are heard," he answered, then bowed and disappeared.

 

"And what about _heeded_?!" she shrieked to the empty place where he had been.  It was no use, of course, and from muffled sounds coming from the bedroom, she realized that she had awakened the children.

 

Kenshin returned to Himura Castle only briefly, just long enough to get into some clothes and call Katsura for a hasty meeting.  He didn't know how long it would take Kaoru to act, or even what she would do when she did.

 

"War?" the captain said in astonishment.  "Himura-Ô...."  At the sight of Kenshin's face, he changed what he was going to say.  "Why come to me, then?  Shouldn't you rather be consulting with Lord Saitô?"

 

"War is not certain, and this one felt it better to let a more sensitive man decide on the issue.  Katsura, do what you think is best; report to Saitô if you wish, or take matters into your own hands.  The two of you are in charge until...until your sovereign returns."

 

"Which may or may not be you," Katsura sighed.  "Very well.  I will make preparations, and ensure that things don't get out of hand if your precautions prove unnecessary."

 

"Thank you, Katsura."

 

Katsura hesitated, then put a hand on Kenshin's shoulder.  "Good-bye, Himura-Ô," he said gravely.  "It has been an honor to serve you, and I hope to continue to do so."

 

Kenshin nodded.  Then he turned away, took a deep breath, and appeared just down the hall from King Kamiya's suite.  When he was admitted entrance, he found the king relaxing with a book in his sitting room.  "Well, Kenshin, what's this all about?" he said warmly, laying the book aside and gesturing for Kenshin to sit beside him.  "And I'd better not hear that this little marital spat is your fault, or I might be inclined to declare war, haha!"  He was clearly joking, which only made it more awful.

 

Kenshin did not move.  There was a pause, as he stood there with a grim expression and the other king's laughter died.  "Father," he finally said.  "May this one speak with you privately?"

 

Kamiya frowned, but obligingly gestured the servants out, then looked at his son-in-law expectantly.  Kenshin slowly went to one knee.  "Your Majes--"

 

"Now, cut that out!" Kamiya said angrily.  "We are royal brothers, this isn't seemly."

 

Kenshin went on as if he had not heard.  "This one begs you to take only his own life into account, when you hear the truth.  My people were not at fault."

 

The king rose.  "Himura," he said slowly, his voice hard, "what's this about?"

 

Kenshin continued looking at him steadily.  "You know that this one used to be Shishio's assassin."

 

"What of it?" Kamiya said roughly.

 

"There is something you should know.  It would have been told sooner, but this one only recently discovered it himself...."  He was unable to hold the king's eyes to the end; by the time he had finished speaking, he was staring at the floor.  Silence fell, and he waited.

 

After a minute, Kamiya began to pace, back and forth, the steps quickly becoming more agitated.  There was a pause...then a sudden violent clattering, the seizing of a sword from its stand, a ringing sound of metal on metal, a thump as the sheath was flung away.  Then the approach - Kenshin had withstood such tension before, still and unresponsive even when a blade was halted just before his face or throat, but this time it was no test, no challenge.  This time, the sword came piercing down into his shoulder, releasing a wash of blood that came flooding down his arm to stain the carpet crimson.

 

Kenshin was thrown forward and nearly screamed when he caught himself, the action sending a burst of agony shooting through his entire body.  He supported himself with one hand only, the other hovering like a wounded bird.  He forced himself to calm down and master the pain, for he had taken much worse injuries in the past; and he wondered vaguely why his head was still attached.  A slow death, perhaps.  He hadn't expected such a thing from Kaoru's father, but after all, the man was entitled.  (Or was he?  Did it matter?  It was getting hard to think.  Where is...Kaoru-dono, this one wanted to say good-bye...why couldn't...?)

 

His thoughts were completely blocked out when the sword was withdrawn.  That took up his entire attention for a little while, so that when he was finally able to spare a shred of consciousness, the king had been speaking for quite some time.  Well, not speaking, exactly.  Cursing, almost continuously, which suddenly ceased when Kamiya began to weep.  He dropped the sword and sank down to sit on the floor, lamenting with such lack of inhibition that it attracted the attention of the servants outside.  "Leave us!" he roared.  They obeyed at once, but to stop them from returning with reinforcements, he bolted the doors.

 

Kenshin had not moved when he finally returned.  "Are you just going to sit there and bleed to death?" he snarled.  Kenshin nearly cried out again when Kamiya touched him near the wound; he raised a shaking hand, but Kamiya pushed it away and bound the wound himself.  Then Kenshin found the king holding his hands, staring at them with loathing.  It suddenly occurred to him that Kamiya might let him live, might instead cripple his hands.  He would never be able to hold a sword again.  The thought made him sick, and he bowed his head to hide the desperation he could not keep out of his face.  He had vowed never to kill again, but to lose kenjutsu itself....

 

"How," Kamiya finally snarled, "am I supposed to kill you when you won't resist at all?"

 

As he forced his hands to remain still, "The method is up to you."

 

Kamiya finally dropped them with another curse.

 

At that moment, someone started pounding on the door.  Kamiya turned with his mouth open to bellow, but then a muffled voice came from the other side.  "Papa!  Papa, open the door!  _Papa!_ "

 

"Kaoru," he muttered.  His eyes strayed to Kenshin, who was staring at the door as if he was being shown a glimpse of something that had moved forever out of his reach.  "Get out," he snapped.  "I'm too old for such revenge...."  _Like trying to kill a child,_ he thought angrily, _except that he looks at you like that, and you realize he sees an even worse hell than you do._   "You make it feel like murder."

 

"Kamiya-Ô...."

 

"It's over!" he shouted, cursing.  "Go back to your precious country, it'll be safe enough from my armies!  Safer than _my wife_ was from _you_!  If your face is ever seen here again, my men will shoot to kill!"

 

When the door finally opened, Kaoru gasped at the haggard look on her father's face.  "Papa...the servants were telling me--"

 

"He's gone," Kamiya said dully.

 

Kaoru looked past him and saw no one in the room - saw the huge lurid stain on the carpet.  "Papa!" she screamed in horror.  She hadn't wanted him _dead_....

 

He saw what she was looking at.  "I didn't kill him," he said irritably.  "Tried to, but...."  He turned away from her and sank back into his chair, gazing off into the shadows.  "I couldn't," he whispered.  "He took her from me, and I couldn't...."

 

Kaoru went to sit in his lap and put her arms around his neck, and they wept together.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  I had meant for Kaoru's father to re-marry, since that made more sense than his staying single, but I decided against it in the end.  It seemed inappropriate for a fanfic to introduce two or three OCs whose subplot would have overrun the story (because yes, I was getting lots of ideas for Kaoru's step-family that might have made a multi-chapter in itself).


	35. Chapter 35

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 16 - In which Kaoru makes a decision.**

 

A/N:  **I broke my rule.  I told myself I would never use cuss words in my fanfiction, but in this case, no matter how I tried, I couldn't find a way around it.  Hopefully this is the last time as well as the first.**

 

"Ojisan" is "uncle."  (As opposed to "Ojiisan," which is "Grandfather.")  Using -ji as an honorific has avuncular connotations.

 

o.o.o

 

_"Gloomy, gloomy was the night,_

_And eerie was the way,_

_As fair Jenny in her green cloak_

_To Miles Cross she did go."_

Tam Lin

 

o.o.o

 

Time passed.

 

o.o.o

 

"This is ridiculous," Saitô muttered.  "It's like this country's being run by a ghost.  If he doesn't get his act together soon, he'll find himself needing to hire a new spy."

 

o.o.o

 

"Mommy," the girls asked, "when are we going home?"

 

"When your father sends for you," she said shortly, and allowed no more talk on the subject.

 

o.o.o

 

 _'Things are not right,'_ Katsura thought, on duty at late hours, but he had a wife of his own and so knew that it was not in his power to make things right.

 

o.o.o

 

"One of these days," Sanosuke snarled, "he's gonna get a faceful of my fist if he doesn't fix this."

 

To which Megumi answered, "Idiot," and Sôjirô pointed out, "Hearts are not mended by fists, Sano-kun."

 

o.o.o

 

Tomoe lay awake in Akira's arms, staring into the soft darkness, wishing there was some magic to share her happiness with the ones who needed it, yet knowing that there was no enchantment for this.

 

o.o.o

 

"I followed you," Takasugi growled, "because I thought you understood.  If you can't keep your own family together, how do you think you'll be more successful with our country?"

 

o.o.o

 

Titania slept her way through the men of the Seelie court (none of them were ever the same again), and then in frustration vowed celibacy, yet neither this nor anything else she tried was able to pull her out of her black mood.  The skies of Faerie were always dark these days.

 

o.o.o

 

Only Kenji seemed to thrive, training eagerly with his grandfather's soldiers and going nearly wild with delight at the incredible variety of _people_.  Kind, irritable, short, tall, giggly, gruff, sincere, dishonest; he loved them, talked to them, followed them around, and they came to return his love, and to see in him a hope for their future.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

One night, Kaoru woke up crying, so she got out of bed and left the room, so as not to disturb the children.  Waving away the concerned maid on night-duty, she stumbled down hallway after hallway.  She considered locking herself in a closet to weep in peace, but she wanted to feel the moonlight on her skin.

 

The garden had barely changed.  The sleeping blooms all looked the same at night, their colors hidden; the bench was still in the same place - the fairy ring still gleamed invitingly.  She turned her back on it and sat down, kicking her slippers off so she could drag her bare toes back and forth in the cool grass.

 

"I hate you," she whispered, but her heart felt too tired for her to mean it.  She cried some more, and as her sobs grew louder and louder, the rage returned.  Caught between its senseless heat, the murky betrayal, and the wounded love that even now never left her alone, she felt like she was going to be torn apart between them.  "I hate you!" she screamed, but the words felt wrong; so then she screamed instead, "Why?!"

 

That was it.  " _Why_?!  Why?  Why?"  Her hands were buried in her own hair, gripping at her scalp; she was crying so hard she felt half-choked.  A line of something slimy from her nose was trickling slowly down, caught on the top of her lip.  "I just wish you would--!" she screamed.  Would what?  What did she want of him?

_What can this one do?  How can he make amends?_

 

There was nothing, she realized.  Nothing he could do to make it up to her, nothing he could do that would make her stop hurting.  He couldn't change the past any more than she could, what had been done was irrevocable.  _'Am I going to hate him forever?'_ she thought in despair.  Was this misery going to crush her forever?  _'Time heals all wounds,'_ someone had once told her.  She knew that one day, she would stop crying over him, or thinking about him constantly--

 

Time had not healed Enishi's wounds.

 

Kaoru shivered.  If anything, it had become worse, the hatred growing with time, passing all bounds of reason.  "I don't want to be like that," she whispered.  She squeezed her eyes shut and, almost experimentally, tried to forgive him.

 

Nothing changed, so she gave the words sound with her choked voice.  "I forgive you."  It was so difficult to say aloud, but once she had, something broke.  A wave of mixed passions swept over her, nearly drowning her.  "I FORGIVE YOU, YOU _BASTARD_!" she shouted at the top of her voice, then broke into renewed sobs.  Of all the tears she had shed, these were the first that felt untainted.  It was the first time she had cried, not at him, but for her own sake; she did not cry as loudly or as long, it was like a farewell.  When she finished, completely spent, she knew that she would never cry over him again.

 

She drew in a breath of the night air, breathed it out again.  Her eyes hurt.  She felt empty.  She wanted to go back and soothe her raw face and curl back up in bed, with her children around her.  "Good-bye, Kenshin," she said quietly.  Then she sighed.

 

After a minute, she got back to her feet and turned back to the castle - and froze.  "What are you doing here?" she accused.

 

Sôjirô smiled brightly, moving closer now that she had noticed him.  "Well, you can't expect to run off and not have a bodyguard or two follow."  He laughed when he saw her darting glances around the garden.  "The others are asleep, it's my shift."

 

"Oh," Kaoru grumbled.  Admittedly, she was glad it had been Sôjirô and not the others who had witnessed her embarrassing little scene, but even so, she wished she could do _something_ in private for once in her life.  In that small way, at least, the Seelie court had been a little refreshing.

 

"Kaoru-Jooh," Sôjirô started, but she cut him off.

 

"No, we're not going back.  Not yet.  Maybe not ever."  She slowly shook her head.  "I'm just glad I don't...have to hate him anymore."

 

He bowed.  "As you wish."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

When the message came one morning, it was a blow...but not as great a one as she had feared.  Kaoru sat quietly for a moment, gathering her thoughts.  Then she was able to say calmly, "Kenji, Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan.  You will need to start packing soon, your father wants you to go back to Himura Castle for a while."

 

"What?!" Kenji exclaimed in dismay, as the girls broke into delighted cheers.  "Aw, Mom!  You can't send me back, I've got stuff to do here!"

 

"Himura Castle," Kaoru started, and found herself hesitating.  She steeled herself and continued.  "It's just as much your home as this one, Kenji.  You are heir to _both_ thrones."

 

"But I don't _want_ to go!" he protested.  "I like it here!  I don't want _that guy_ telling me what to do!"  The girls were spinning in circles, chanting happily.

 

"Kenji," Kaoru said firmly, "you're going.  You need to get used to your father, and become familiar with the people who work for him."

 

"I _do_ know them," he said sulkily.  "Saitô, who's a jerk.  Takasugi, with the creepy smile.  Katsura, who--"

 

"Kenji."

 

Looking at her face, he saw that he was going to have no say in the matter.  "Fine!  See if I bring you a present when we come back!"

 

A few minutes later, however, as Kaoru talked with them some more, it began to dawn on the girls that she was not intending to return with them.  Naturally, they became very upset.  "But you have to come with us, Mommy!"

 

"You'll be all right, really," she said reassuringly.  "Your big brother will look after you, and you'll get to see your daddy again, for real."

 

"But...but...!"

 

"Aw, come on, Ayame," Kenji told her, "it'll be fun!  You'll get to be a big girl, out in the big world all alone!"

 

"Kenji," Kaoru said, trying not to laugh as she hugged the wailing girl, "stop making her cry."

 

"I wasn't!" he protested.  "I was trying to cheer her up!"

 

Kaoru looked down at her sobbing daughters and sighed.  It _was_ a long way for them to travel without her, for they had never been away from her before.  Come to think of it...she wasn't so sure she wanted to let them go so soon, either.  After all, there would be no harm in just accompanying them on the journey, right?  "I'll tell you what," she said encouragingly.  "I'll come with you - _not_ to stay at the castle, but just for the trip.  Okay?"

 

The girls, having heard only what they wanted to hear, were ecstatic; Kenji was displeased.  "What?  You're coming after all?!  That's not fair!"

 

"Oh," she teased, "so you want to get away from me."

 

"No, Mom!" he said hurriedly.  "I mean, I love you and all, but...I just...it would've been cool to be on my own for once, you know?"

 

He submitted grudgingly to her kiss on the cheek.  "Oh, Kenji, believe me, you have _plenty_ of time left to grow up."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was Katsura who met them in the courtyard.  Kaoru liked him, but she found it rather insulting - she could understand that Saitô wouldn't think their arrival worth his time, but for Kenshin to snub them like this?  _'Probably can't stand the thought of seeing you again,'_ she thought at herself bitterly.  She supposed she couldn't blame him, though it did hurt.

 

"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses," Katsura greeted them warmly.  "It is good to see you again.  The trip wasn't too rough, I hope?"

 

"My butt feels like one big bruise," Kenji told him.  "I'm gonna make Granny teach me how to translocate."

 

"Kenji," Kaoru snapped.  She wasn't going to let the Faerie Queen anywhere near her son again.

 

"Hi, Katsura-ji!" the girls said enthusiastically.  Then, after glomping his legs, they wandered away to greet the castle.  "Hi, horse!  Hi, wall!  Hi, door!  Hi, chickens!  Hi, doggy!  Ah, no licking!  Bad doggy!"

 

Kaoru could resist no longer.  "So," she asked, too casually, "Where is...."  She paused.  "Where is my lord Himura today?"

 

Katsura looked at her in surprise.  Kaoru had never used the term of formal address before, but he found it a hopeful sign that she used it now - it was how a lady of quality spoke in reference to her husband.  "To tell the truth, Your Majesty, we don't know," he told her.  "When we received word of your coming, he was nowhere to be found, and he has not yet returned.  Frankly, we are very glad that you and the prince are here."

 

Kaoru felt cold.  "So he's...missing?"

 

"More likely delayed," he said, "though on what errand, I don't know.  There is reason to think he left suddenly."

 

"I see," Kaoru said slowly.

 

"Your Majesty, will you come in for some refreshment from your journey?"

 

Kaoru sighed.  She had been planning to leave again, perhaps as early as the next morning, but now she saw that she was needed.  "All right."

 

She couldn't get Kenshin off her mind.  It wasn't like before, that agonizing, obsessive circle of bitterness and hurt and vain imagination; she no longer had interest in holding him captive in her thoughts.  Rather, it was concern she felt about this odd absence...she was worried about him.  "And it's more than you deserve, you jerk," she muttered, but with no heat.

 

"Pardon, Your Majesty?"

 

She looked up at the councilors with whom she was holding a meeting.  "Hm?  Oh, sorry.  Yes, I think that idea has some merit, but--"  She suddenly stopped, then turned to her son.  "What do _you_ think, Kenji?"

 

The boy, who had been slouched sideways in his chair, trying to see if he could keep a quill in the air with the force of his breath alone, gave her a startled look and nearly stabbed himself in the eye.  "What?"

 

"Kenji," she said impatiently, "put that down and sit up.  We're in a meeting."

 

"Yeah, and I'm a vital part of it," he said sarcastically, though he obeyed.

 

"Of course you are," she said briskly, "you're the future king.  Here's your first decision, so make sure you don't mess up."

 

He gaped at her.  "What?"

 

"The farmers' complaints," she said pointedly.  "What are you going to do about them?"

 

"Um," he said weakly, "and they're complaining about...?"  At a nod from Kaoru, the committee men dubiously went through their reports again, and this time Kenji listened closely, though rather desperately.  "But...but what they're asking is impossible!  We're not rich enough to do that, are we?"

 

"Not enough to fully comply with their demands, no," she told him calmly.  "Yet they do have a point.  Many of them are suffering, and are depending on the government to keep them from losing their farms."

 

"But then there's no way to win!" he protested.  "No way to fix everything or make everyone happy!"

 

Kaoru smiled and clapped him on the back.  "Welcome to the world of rulership, son.  Now, I suggest we call it quits for today and prepare for supper.  Kenji, think about all this and have your proposal ready by midmorning tomorrow.  Feel free to get any information out of anyone you need to, any time of the day or night."

 

"...Okay," he said in a small voice.

 

It was obvious that the people of the castle were uneasy, though they were overjoyed to have the royal family back again.  Kaoru made the rounds, greeting those she had been separated from, re-assuring them and pretending that all was well.  Yet as she lay in bed that night, watching the girls sleep (Kenji was very relieved to have finally been permitted to sleep in his own quarters this time), thoughts of Kenshin lay on her mind stronger than ever.

 

Was he hiding from her?  Did he even know she was here?  Was he all right?  _'Of course he's not all right,'_ she thought, a little guiltily.  She knew he had at least _some_ affection for her, and he cared very much about the children (the fae were quite fond of children, she remembered sadly).  It couldn't have been easy on him, either, when she left.  _'Don't feel sorry for him,'_ she told herself sternly.  _'He's not human, he doesn't feel the same; he can take care of himself.'_

 

What if he was hurt?  He had gotten hurt before....  She suddenly remembered that long ago battle with Shishio.  She had had to bring him home then, and he had nearly died.

 

Kaoru looked at her daughters, and saw the glint of moonlight on gold.  Suzume had the mirror clutched in her fist.  Just before bedtime, Suzume had told her tearfully, _"Mommy, Daddy won't answer!"_

 

Kaoru suddenly sat up.  She hadn't thought much of it at the time, Kenshin avoiding them perhaps.  Now, however, she carefully worked the mirror out of Suzume's sleeping fist and opened it.  "Please show me Himura Kenshin," she whispered.  The reflection of the moonlight in the glass suddenly vanished.  There was the briefest glimpse of his face - she saw with horror that there was blood on it, and it was horribly red on one side; his hair was singed, and his eyes looked dazed and unfocused.

 

Then he blinked, and the fakest smile Kaoru had ever seen on him crept across his face.  _"It's all right,"_ he managed to say.  _"We'll get to talk later, okay?"_   The mirror went dark.

 

"Kenshin!" she cried.  The girls mumbled and stirred, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.  Was he fighting?  Was he losing?  Who or what could have caused those burns?  Abruptly, she remembered the dragon from Faerie, Hyottoko, but surely Kenshin couldn't have fared _this_ badly against that thing, could he?

 

She climbed out of bed and dressed in sturdy traveling clothes, slipping a knife into her belt and grasping her bokutô.  Writing a note took longer than it should have, because she couldn't make up her mind what to say.  Finally she scribbled,

 

_I went to Faerie.  Kenshin looked like he needed help.  If I'm not back in a day or two, send Chou after me.  ~Kaoru_

 

She folded the letter and placed it on a table where it would be easy to find, addressed in large characters to her bodyguards.  Then she sneaked past the sleepy-eyed Sanosuke, made her way down to Kenshin's garden maze, and found the fairy ring at its center.  She took a deep breath.  If this went wrong....

 

Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut.  "Kenshin," she said, and the sound of her own voice steadied her.  "I don't know if I can love you again, but...you need someone to keep going after you, don't you."  She smiled a wobbly little smile.  "Idiot."  She took a step, and vanished.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin had been alert enough to block the mirror's spell when he had sensed it calling him earlier (he had no wish to terrify the girls with the sight of him in the midst of battle), but he was out of luck the second time.  He had been so busy watching Ladon's many heads that he had forgotten about the tail, a mistake which was nearly fatal.

 

Stunned from the blow and with the burned side of his face feeling like it was about to peel off, it took Kenshin too long to react to the mirror's second call.  "It's all right," he said, trying to smile.  "We'll get to talk later, okay?"  He cut the connection, hoping Ayame and Suzume weren't too traumatized.  They hadn't said anything, which was a little worrying.  Yet he did not have time to think about that now, there was a dragon to fight.

 

Hours later, Kenshin staggered into the Unseelie throne room, most of his concentration focused on clutching his sword in one hand and a lumpy bag in the other.  "Kenshin!"  Only Akira noticed that, in her haste, Tomoe had forgotten to add an honorific as she hurried down to him.  "Oh, Kenshin!  I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should never have asked--"

 

He smiled and pushed the bag into her hands.  "This one trusts it was worth the trouble."

 

Tomoe stared at the bag.  Then she ripped it open and gazed down into it in shock.  "You got _three_ of them?"

 

"There would have been more," he apologized, "but they were difficult to get hold of, and this one was becoming tired."

 

" _Three_ of them."  She could not get over her amazement.  "These are the apples of immortality...I would have been impressed if you'd managed _one_."

 

Akira had come over by now.  "You sent him to the Garden of the Hesperides?  Why him and not me?"

 

Tomoe hesitated, unwilling to voice the fact that Kenshin was a much more skilled warrior than Akira.

 

"This one already knew the way," Kenshin answered for her.  It was pushing the truth to its limits - once, when he was a child, Hiko had boasted that he was the only man to have gone north and successfully obtained the fruit of the Hesperides.  _"Though they got my name wrong in the legends, changed it to Hera-something, the idiots."_

 

"You are experimenting, are you not?" he pointed out.  "Unless you have miraculous luck, you are going to need more than one for your tests, that you are."

 

"Ah, Kenshin-kun," she whispered, her eyes shining, "I cannot thank you enough."

 

"This one hopes for your success," he said softly, for he had an idea of what she was trying to do.

 

Hiko now approached, holding a goblet.  "Drink this, baka deshi," he instructed.

 

Kenshin eyed it warily.  It was a purple color and emitting green steam.  "What is it?"

 

"Something that will end up down your throat," Hiko said conversationally, "by either your own hand or mine."

 

Knowing the futility of attempting to resist, Kenshin reluctantly took the goblet and raised it to his lips.  At the taste, his eyes went huge and he nearly stopped, but Hiko grabbed the goblet and forcefully tipped it, spilling more of the liquid into Kenshin's mouth.  There was a brief, undignified struggle.  At the end of it, Kenshin's front was splashed with large purple stains (still smoking), but enough of the potion had ended up inside him to take effect.

 

"Aagghh!"  He bowed over, clutching his face, which felt like it was being stabbed with icy needles; his scalp burned, and his bruised side and bleeding legs suddenly felt like they were being dragged over gravel.  When the unpleasant sensations finally faded, he straightened up and bellowed at Hiko, "Are you trying to poison this one?"

 

"I'm _trying_ to put you back together, idiot," Hiko growled.  "Your country can very well do without its king being bedridden for the next few weeks."

 

"My country--"  Kenshin suddenly froze.  "How long has this one been gone?"

 

"Well...longer than I expected," Tomoe said, looking ashamed but clutching the bag of apples tightly.

 

"Yeah, we thought you'd been eaten," Akira supplied helpfully.

 

"Ah!"  Kenshin suddenly looked upset.  "No wonder the girls called!  This one must return at once."  He bowed quickly to Tomoe and Akira, nodded his head stiffly at Hiko, then disappeared.

 

Tomoe unhappily ran her fingers along the strap of the bag, over and over.  "He has done so much for me, yet his family is in ruins...I wish there was something I could do."

 

"It's his own fault," Akira said uncomfortably.

 

"The little idiot," Hiko muttered.  "All that time I wasted, teaching him Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, and then I find out he used it for assassin's work...."

 

"Hiko-san," Tomoe said softly.  "I have been wondering for a while now if you would help me with something."

 

He gave her a stern look.

 

"Please," she said quickly.  "I have already asked Kenshin-kun if I may, but I cannot do it alone yet.  Ever since the queen gave me this," she touched her tiara, "I have had more power to do things...such as call up memories from the past, memories of others.  Yet I am not yet used to such power.  It still takes too much concentration to call up such a memory, to be able to see and hear it, and to hold the connection long enough to--"

 

"Whatever," he said shortly.  "But I refuse to go digging around in my stupid apprentice's mucky past, I'll leave that to you.  Just call on whatever power you need."

 

She smiled.  "Thank you, Hiko-san."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenshin went straight from Faerie to the princesses' playroom, which he was relieved and overjoyed to find occupied again.

 

"Daddy!"  They looked up at him in astonishment, then flew at him, shrieking with joy.  He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around them, relishing the piercing sound of their excited voices and the stranglehold of their chubby little arms.  "You still have my ribbon!" Ayame screamed in delight, when he grinned and pulled it out to show her.

 

"My turn," Suzume laughed, and Kenshin lovingly tied it in her hair.  "Keep it for this one while you are here, all right?"

 

"Okay!" she agreed happily.

 

The door opened, and Kenji poked his head in.  "You guys are so loud we can hear you all the way--"  He broke off in astonishment when he saw Kenshin, and his face lit up.  "Dad!  You're back!"  Grinning broadly, Kenshin rose to meet him, and Kenji hurried forward with an earnest look on his face.  "Hey, what percentage of our arable land here is used for crops, and what percentage is used for livestock?"

 

Kenshin stared at him, rather taken aback.  "Ah...well, this one does not know such figures offhand.  You might try asking Masaya.  Saitô will know where to find him."

 

"Oh.  Okay, thanks!"  Kenji whirled and hurried back out.

 

Kenshin blinked.  Well, that had not gone as expected, but at least Kenji no longer seemed antagonistic, and it was a good thing for him to express interest (however weird) in his father's country.  Things were almost as they should be.  If only he could have Kaoru back....

 

"Is your mother well?" he asked the girls softly.

 

"Yeah!"  Ayame answered.  "She stopped crying and she doesn't get mad anymore.  I like _that_ Mommy better!"

 

"Yes," he said sadly.  So apparently she was getting over him.  It hurt to see that she could dismiss him after so short a time, but it was horrible and selfish of him to wish she had been upset longer.  It was good that she was putting the pain behind her, he did not want her to suffer because of him.  "This one is glad she is all right," he said.  Then he smiled.  "And what good girls you are, to do well on the journey all the way here!"  He knew they had never been separated from their mother before, and he'd felt guilty worrying that they would be upset at her absence.

 

Ayame, however, seemed perfectly cheerful when she answered, "It was fun!  We got to play with the pretty horsies, and Niisan called one of them names and it almost kicked him...!"  She had only been talking for a few minutes, however, when their nurse came in to put them to bed.  It _was_ late for them, and Kenshin, glad as he was to see them, could see that they were tired.

 

"Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan, sleep well," he said fondly.

 

"Good night, Daddy," they chorused.  He kissed them and tucked them in, and when their eyes had finally closed and their breathing gone deep and even, he sighed and went slowly away, alone again.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru found herself in a dim place that smelled strongly of animals and hay.  Rows of horses looked over at her when she suddenly appeared.  She noticed uneasily that none of their stalls had doors, and one or two even came over to snuffle at her.  "A mortal," one of them commented, which shocked Kaoru backward until she slammed into a second one.

 

"Can we eat it?" this one inquired with interest, and Kaoru clapped a hand over her mouth when she heard herself whimper.  These horses had _fangs_.

 

"Oi, budge up, guys."  A young man was shoving his way through the horses.  His fair hair seemed odd in this dark place, but the shape of his cat-like eyes gave him a shifty look, and the scowl only heightened the effect.  What was most startling about his appearance, however, was the fact that he had only one arm - all that was left of the other was a stump.  Despite this, he wore a sword at his waist, and Kaoru wondered how a man with such a handicap could still fight.

 

"You're Battousai's woman," he suddenly said, and her face colored.

 

"I...I'm..." she mumbled uncertainly.

 

He shook his head.  "Don't know what Battousai sees in you," he remarked.  "Tomoe-nee suited him much better."

 

She flushed again, this time with anger.  "Is that so?" she growled, and wondered suddenly why she was so jealous.

 

He eyed her for a moment, then grinned.  "I could be wrong.  It's too late now, in any case....  Why'd you come here, anyway?"

 

"I'm...looking for Kenshin," Kaoru confessed.

 

He stared at her.  "You mean you want him _back_?"

 

"No," she said hotly, then looked away.

 

She could feel him staring at her some more, and then he said, "You're just as selfish as him, aren't you.  Won't love him, won't dump him.  The worst kind of lover."

 

" _Excuse_ me?!"

 

"Well, what did you expect?" he said impatiently.  "He ruined his life so you wouldn't want him anymore, but you won't let him go completely so he can't move on to another girl - if he'd even _try_ , the idiot - so now neither of you can be happy.  It's really annoying to watch."

 

Kaoru was trembling, trying as hard as she could not to cry.  _He ruined his life so you wouldn't want him anymore._   "So he...really does hate me...."

 

"You really are stupid," he sighed, shaking his head.  He was not expecting the human to come charging at him with a bokutô; it took him longer than it should have to recover and fight back.

 

They fell back a few minutes later, both sullenly nursing bruises.  "How can you fight with only one arm, anyway?" she grumbled.

 

"Funny you should ask," he muttered.  He suddenly looked squarely at her.  "What's your name, again?"

 

She scowled, unwilling to give her married name, yet uncomfortable about using her maiden name.  "Kaoru," she finally admitted.  Then, defensively, "And who are you?"

 

"Yutarô," he grunted.  "I've known Battousai since I was a kid."  He grinned humorlessly.  "It was his fault I lost my arm."  Just as Kaoru was opening her mouth, he added, "It's also because of him that my arm was _all_ I lost."  She closed her mouth again.  "That guy really is something...."

 

"Yes, everyone thinks Kenshin is so great," she said bitterly.

 

"And you didn't?  Why'd you marry him, then?"

 

"I _married_ him," she said tightly, "before I found out that he had killed my mother, and _laughed_ about it."

 

He looked at her for a long time.  She looked back, hugging her arms around herself, glaring.

 

Finally, he spoke.  "You ought to know him pretty well."  He paused, but she only closed her eyes in pain and did not speak.  "Look...Battousai has always had a weakness about women, _always_.  You ought to know that, at least.  When he was given an assignment to assassinate a woman, he flat-out refused."

 

Kaoru looked at him sharply, and he shot her an expression that was closer to a grimace than a grin.  "At least, at first.  He only changed his mind when Shishio became displeased, and called for someone to discipline him, so my own sensei cut off my sword-arm and threw it at Battousai's feet."

 

Kaoru stared at him.

 

Yutarô finally added, "That woman was going to die, one way or the other.  At least he had a choice about _my_ life."

 

He waited, and after a long time, Kaoru licked dry lips and whispered, "Why didn't he...tell me--"  She broke off, suddenly remembering that horrible, horrible moment in the Unseelie court.  "Were you there?" she growled.  "When he told me?  Were you there when--?"

 

"He was trying to get rid of you, obviously," Yutarô snapped.  "He was trying to save his kid - _your_ kid -, but he couldn't as long as you held onto him like that, so he was trying to make you let go.  Don't you get it?  _You wouldn't leave him alone._   You wouldn't let him die, so he had to make you.  He tried to give up _everything_ for your sake and your kid's sake - and you think he doesn't love you?!"

 

Kaoru could not hold the tears back anymore.  She covered her face and sobbed, wracked by the most painful joy she had ever experienced.  She couldn't believe it, she would not let herself believe it, that Kenshin's love had never wavered; but even believing it sent agony stabbing deep into her heart.  _'Oh, Kenshin...Kenshin...why do you have to be so..._ selfish _...?'_   Gulping, she looked up in desperation to find Yutarô scowling away into the distance, obviously having no idea how to deal with her emotional display.

 

She spent a few minutes trying hard to calm herself down, scrubbing away the tears and taking deep breaths until she felt like she could speak steadily again.  "Kenshin," she finally said.  "Is he...here?"

 

Yutarô shifted uncomfortably.  "He hasn't been here for days.  Tomoe-nee asked him to do a favor for her, and he never came back."

 

"Wh...what?  And no one's _worried_?"

 

Yutarô shrugged.  "Well, Tomoe-nee is, but she's probably the only one.  I mean, it's Battousai, you know?  He can take care of himself."  He suddenly looked troubled.  "I think.  I guess a hundred-headed dragon _would_ be kind of tough to beat, but still."

 

"A hundred-headed _what_?!" Kaoru shrieked.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Tomoe was startled when Himura Kaoru came thundering into the room, out of which the riffraff had been kicked out.  "What did you do to my husband, Tomoe-san?!"

 

"Don't let go!" Hiko snapped at Tomoe, almost at the same time.  "You want to lose control of the spell and set this place on fire?"

 

Tomoe was trapped, her arms raised to maintain the spell, supported by Hiko's steady magic.  A filmy mass was wavering in the air between them.  Akira quickly took hold of Kaoru's arm and pulled her to the side with him.  "Battousai's fine, he just left, "Akira said shortly.  "Don't bother them 'til they've finished."

 

Kaoru watched, a little sullenly, as a moving image began to form in that filmy mass - and then she forgot to breathe.  It was Kenshin...Battousai...whirling in a blaze of red hair and red blood.  The image filled her vision until it was all she saw, men crashing to the ground as corpses while voices screamed in the background...she had never seen Kenshin kill anyone before.  "It's from the past," Akira murmured when he saw Kaoru's horrified look.  "Maybe you should leave...."

 

Kaoru's hands flew up to cover her mouth.  Battousai was now facing a woman - her face was stricken with terror, but Kaoru knew who she was without being told.  "Why are you...watching--" she choked.

 

"Leave, then," Akira said harshly.  "You weren't meant to see this."

 

Kaoru could not tear her eyes away.  She wanted to run from the room, or she wanted to scream and smash her fist through that blood-filled scene from the past, but instead, she found herself rooted to the spot, staring, realizing with a sick feeling that she was going to see it through.  Tears began to run silently down her cheeks.  _'I don't want to hate him again,'_ she thought in despair.  _'Please, don't make me hate him again.'_

 

The queen was fighting for her life; Battousai's movements seemed slow and reluctant now that none stood between himself and his victim.  _"I have no...personal grudge...against you...."_

 

Kaoru felt like she was going to choke when she saw him take her mother's wrist - but then the queen wrenched free, and his sword-arm went limp.  "Just do it already," she whispered, barely able to see through the tears spilling from her eyes.  Why was he so reluctant?  The way he had told it, she thought it had been...businesslike, maybe even a joke.  Yet there was nothing fey about the Battousai she saw now.  His shoulders seemed bowed with the weight of mortal sorrow.

 

Now his attention seemed caught - she noticed, for the first time, that the child's screams in the background were--  "No!" she cried.  She had been a fool, a _fool_ to think she had slept through it.  Of course she hadn't, no child could have; she hadn't been dreaming, she had been _remembering_.  Kaoru screamed, and furiously swiped the tears from her eyes, the rage surging up again - but then she saw Battousai's face clearly, for the first time.  The anguish on it was terrible.  He closed his eyes, the sword in his hand hung down uselessly, and Kaoru realized that he had given up.

 

She almost missed seeing the queen.  It was only when she heard her own name, uttered by her mother in a horrified whisper, that she looked back at her; the queen rushed up behind Battousai and seized his hand.  Kaoru covered her face, but not quickly enough; she saw the blade enter her mother's body, saw Battousai's shocked expression as he turned his head.

 

_"Please...please don't hurt her...please, let her live...."_

 

"That little...idiot," Hiko murmured.  "That is _not_ how he told it."

 

"To him, it makes no difference," Tomoe said softly.  "It was enough to weigh on his soul all this time...."

 

Kaoru stood there shaking, with her hands pressed over her face, her thoughts in turmoil.  This was not what she had expected.  Nothing was clear-cut, nothing was explained.  How could this...?

 

A retching sound made her wince; she looked up to see Battousai on the floor, one hand over his mouth.  He eventually got to his feet and stumbled to the bed where the child lay.  He fell to his knees and gazed at her.  Kaoru shuddered, realizing that _this_ was their first meeting, this horrifying crossroads of their two paths.  He reached out and gently smoothed back her hair - Kaoru could see that his hand was shaking.

 

In her childhood memory, she had perceived only the frightening grimness of his face, the assassin's eyes and the blazing unnatural mark.  She had not seen the pain, or the deep shame that so obviously tormented him.  He lowered his head close to hers and began to sing.  His voice was low and rasping, barely able to keep the tune steady, but the words must have been a spell, for the little girl who was herself soon quieted and fell asleep.

_"I slew your mother."_   He hadn't lied...but what he had told her had not been the truth.

_"He was trying to get rid of you."_

_He was trying to protect you._

 

"You jerk!" Kaoru screamed, because she suddenly understood.  Because he loved her and he loved their children, he would give them up.  To save them, he would leave them; would tear himself to pieces if it meant they could be happy without him.  "You selfish, stupid JERK!"  She had been wrong to leave him, she saw that now.  He needed her to keep hold of him, to keep pulling him back from destruction, until he finally realized that embracing his own misery for their sakes was not the answer.  "I hate you," she said in exasperation, because it still hurt so badly, and she knew already that she was going to pull him back again despite that.  He needed her, and she could not let him go away again, not now when she knew the truth.

_"Little girl,"_ he was saying now, _"What I have taken from you...."_

 

"It's supposed to be 'sessha,'" she whispered, tears making her vision cloudy again.  It was an extra protection, of course; another layer between himself and the murderer he hated.

 

 _'But you_ are _him, Kenshin,'_ she thought.  _'You can't run away from him, because you can't run away from yourself.  And...he is_ you _, as well.  It was you who wanted to spare her life.  You're the one who still carries the guilt.'_   This was the man she had married.  She had to take all of him, not just the parts she liked.  It had been her choice, and she was not going to give up now.  Despite everything, despite her own pain and resentment, she knew that the good part of him was worth fighting for, just as she realized that, in his stupid, misguided way, he had sacrificed and fought for her own happiness.

 

She heard Tomoe suddenly gasp, and she quickly cleared her eyes again.  Battousai had picked up a wakizashi.  His face was very closed and controlled as he stood holding the blade against his wrist.  Kaoru's heart was in her mouth, but he kept standing there motionless, until another figure appeared which gave her chills.  She had never expected to see Shishio Makoto again.  _"Well, get a move on, Battousai.  Don't keep me waiting."_

 

Battousai dropped the short sword at once.  _"What?"_

 

Shishio rolled his eyes.  _"You were about to kill yourself, or at least I_ assume _you were.  It's about time, too - I'm running out of ideas."_

 

Kaoru's breath came hard, even as Battousai muttered, _"What...are you...?"_

 

Shishio made a disgusted noise.  _"You know, Battousai, it's the strangest thing, but I can't kill you.  Every time I try, I suddenly feel too lazy, or too bored, or too busy.  Just the other day, I even held a blade to your throat, and I found myself strangely reluctant."_

 

Battousai's eyes widened.

 

Shishio saw it and grinned.  _"It's almost as if you have some protection on you, keeping you safe from me, when really you should be dead along with the rest of your family."_

_"That's ridiculous,"_ Battousai said shortly.

 

_"Oh, really.  I was under the impression that your dear old granny is rather fond of you.  Such a spell wouldn't be beyond her."_

 

Battousai looked troubled.  _"I don't...."_

 

Shishio gave an exaggerated sigh.  _"Well, if you won't do the job for me after all, I suppose it's no great loss.  Your skills_ are _sometimes useful, after all, and at least now this country won't have a prince any time soon."_   He contemptuously kicked the body of the dead queen.  Kaoru gave a strangled cry and Battousai took a surging step forward, but he was weaponless.  He froze when Shishio looked back at him.  A smile crept over Shishio's face as he continued slowly, _"Makes things easier for me."_

_"You have...designs on this country?"_ Battousai said stiffly.

 

Shishio shrugged.  _"It's poor, but it's big.  My own realm is too small to be satisfactory on its own, I'm looking to expand."_   If Battousai was bothered by this reference to his own country, he did not show it, which was more than Kaoru could say for herself.  Shishio's glance moved to the sleeping princess.  _"You killed the child, too?"_ he said with interest, noting the stains on the girl and the blood splashed over her, too far away to see her breathing.

_"Yes,"_ Battousai said, shifting casually so that she was more difficult to see behind him.  _"No witnesses,"_ he added dryly, _"as you always keep telling me."_

 

He was obviously lying, protecting her.  What had happened when Shishio discovered the truth?  Kaoru shivered when she remembered that he had wanted to marry her.  _When I tried to rebel or run away,_ Kenshin had said, _he never punished me.  It was always innocents who suffered._

_"Heheh.  Yes, though it's rather out of character for you, isn't it?  Well, I'm getting out of here, this place stinks.  Coming?"_

 

There was a pause.  Then Battousai said, _"After you."_

_"Why?  Is there a reason you want me out of here first?"_

 

_"None in particular.  Why do you ask?  Worried to have me at your back?"_

 

Shishio gave a scornful laugh, though his eyes glittered.  Then he disappeared.

 

Slowly, Battousai moved to retrieve one of his weapons, which had been thrust into the wall in a clash with one of the guards.  The other he left where it was.  For a moment, he stood with one hand on the wall, his head bowed.  He drew in a breath and let it out shakily, then turned and went back to the child.  Picking her up carefully, he carried her out of the bedroom, filled with so much death, and lay her down on a couch outside.  He stood looking down at her for a minute.  Then he closed his eyes and disappeared.

 

As the living memory finally faded, Kaoru found herself on the floor, sitting with bowed head, her legs having grown too weak to hold her.  Tomoe came to her after a while, looking exhausted.  "Kaoru-san, forgive me.  I had not meant you to witness that."

 

Kaoru shook her head, unable to speak.  It wasn't fair that she should be in such pain, and that the one she wanted most desperately to comfort her should be the one who had caused it.  "Kaoru-san," Tomoe said hesitantly.  "Do you want to rest a little?"

 

"I...I have to...find Kenshin," Kaoru said, dazed.  Tomoe put her hand on her shoulder, and Kaoru suddenly clung to her.  She buried her face against the other woman's shoulder and opened her mouth in a silent scream, but her eyes were dry, and after a while she forced herself to recover. She wasn't supposed to be here.  She had to find Kenshin _now_ , so she could tell him - after she had beaten him bloody - that he still belonged to her.  They had to stay together, for better or for worse, and they had been apart for far too long.

 

"I will take you back," Tomoe said softly.  However, when they reached the castle, nobody knew where Kenshin was.

 

"I was told that he came back, Your Majesty, but I'm afraid I haven't actually seen him."

 

"I heard he was with the princesses, but they have been in bed for a while now."

 

"I'm not sure, Your Majesty.  Have you checked with the prince or Lord Saitô?"

 

"Argh!" Kaoru finally shouted.  "Where _is_ he?"  She turned to look at Tomoe, who was standing with her eyes closed.  "He is...above," the enchantress said slowly.  "High up...Kenji's tower, I think."  She opened her eyes and looked at Kaoru.  "His heart is very heavy."

 

Kaoru nodded grimly.  "Thank you."

 

It was a long climb without the aid of adrenaline.  At the top, she stopped to catch her breath, and let out a long sigh when she saw Kenshin through the half-open door.  He was sitting on the thick stone windowsill, looking out at the stars, his sword nestled in the crook of one elbow.

 

It was the first time she had been able to see him with love again.  She thought also of her mother, of this same man's role in her death; it would be a long time before Kaoru could unlink them.  Tears pricked at her eyes, yet her heart was steady.  _'You chose him,'_ she told herself again.  _'You chose all of him.  He's yours.'_   Trying to reject him had given her nothing but misery.

 

"Why have you come?"

 

His voice startled her, and Kaoru blushed.  She was just opening her mouth to answer, but another voice answered first.  "You're making us nervous, Ken-chan."

 

Startled, Kaoru stepped forward and saw that there was a handmaid standing beside him.  Even as she watched, another appeared at his feet, both of them gazing at him intently.  He did not look at them.  "And why would that be?"

 

"She's gone!  Your whole _world_ is shattered!" they chorused, giggling.  "There's no reason to _live_ anymore!"  Kaoru didn't know whether to feel flattered or indignant.

 

"Of course there is," Kenshin said shortly.  "This one is needed by his children, by this country.  It would be selfish and wrong to abandon them.  Even when...."  His  head dropped.  "It would be wrong," he whispered.

 

"Maybe," one of the girls said thoughtfully, "maybe you'd end up with us forever, if you jumped."

 

"Yes, yes!" her companion said eagerly.  "There are three paths, after all!  One leads to Faerie!  Oh Ken-chan, I changed my mind!  Jump, jump!"

 

"So sure are you that this one would end up in Faerie," he said dryly.

_'Jump?'_ Kaoru thought in confusion.  _'They can't mean...?'_

 

At that moment, one of the handmaids looked up and saw her.  She smiled, then looked at her companion and nodded.  The two of them grinned so mischievously that Kaoru glared.  "Ken-chan," one of them asked slyly.  "What would you say to Kaoru-chan, if she was here?"

 

He gave a hollow laugh.  "What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"If she was here!" they insisted.  "What would you tell her?"

 

He sighed.  "What is there to tell her?" he said in a low voice.  "I love you?  This one begs you to forgive him?  Please come back?"  He suddenly broke off, and the handmaids stared at him in concern.  When he spoke again, his voice was back under control.  "Such things have already been said.  There is nothing left to do...."  He paused again.  "She's gone."  His voice had dipped back to a strangled whisper; the sakabatô, already dangling from limp fingers, dropped to the floor.

 

Kaoru stepped into the room and went to him, as the handmaids smiled at her and disappeared.  He stiffened when her arms went around him, but did not turn.  She leaned her head on his shoulder.  "I love you," she said hesitantly.  "I...forgive you.  I've come back."  She could hear his breathing quicken.

 

"If you're some fey trick...."

 

She frowned.  " _Look_ at me!"  She shoved his shoulders to make him turn.  For a moment, his desperate eyes were looking into hers - then he gasped and snatched at the windowsill.  "Kenshin?" she said, startled.

 

"Kao--"

 

She grabbed at him to stop him from falling out the window, and for a moment, they were poised there on the sill, breathing hard.  Then his foot slipped.  He instinctively grabbed her, but then consciously let go so as not to drag her with him, and so lost his balance entirely.  "Kenshin!" she screamed, leaning too far out after him.  His effort to save her was wasted as she scrabbled for a handhold and felt nothing but air.  "KENSHIN!"

 

She heard a wild shout, and then a sound of something huge clapping the air.  She was too terrified to scream or see; the world was night, and she was not waking up from this nightmare of falling, and she was about to die.

 

Something hit her body.  For one wild moment she thought it was the ground, but she was still in the air and he was holding her.  "Kenshin?" she whispered.  The haze of terror cleared, and she stared up at the huge red things above them until she realized that it was a pair of wings.  "Kenshin?!"

 

His breathing was harsh as he carried her, and when they had flown to the balcony of their old rooms, he set her gently down and then crumpled to the floor.  The red feathers instantly dissolved, breaking apart and fluttering out over the grounds below.  "Kenshin!"  His clothes had been shredded where the wings emerged, and there was nothing to conceal the two gaping holes in his back that now bled freely.  Kaoru ran inside to fetch some towels from the wash stand, then hurried back and pressed them over his wounds.

 

His lips moved, and she had to lean over his head to hear him.  "You're safe?"

 

"Yes," she told him.  "Yes, yes, you idiot."

 

"Mm."  He closed his eyes.

 

"Kenshin, what happened?  Those wings--!"

 

"They were not," he said with difficulty, "meant to be used.  This one's magic is too weak to sustain them."

 

"They saved my life," she said softly.  At that, he smiled and reached for her, but then sighed and pulled away again.

 

She frowned, then picked up his hand and placed it on her thigh.  His eyes opened wide and he raised his head.  "Kaoru-dono?"  Then, wonderingly, "You came back."

 

She blew out a breath.  "Yes."

 

His were fixed on hers.  "Just...for a little while."

 

She took his face in her hands, not very gently.  "Forever," she growled.  "I decided, Kenshin.  I want you back, and this time I'm not letting you go for _anything_ \- even you."

 

He pushed himself upright and wrapped his arms around her.  Startled, raising her hands automatically, she felt the blood running down his back.  "Hey!  Lie back down, you're hurt!"  Then, "I can't breathe!"

 

His embrace loosened a little, but his voice was fierce as he whispered in her ear.  "Losing you was hell...that it was."

 

"So," she mumbled back, "I guess we're even."

 

He kissed her.  She bit him, then relented and kissed back.  He finally pulled away and said, not smiling, his voice faint from the pain he was ignoring, "Does our suffering really balance out?  What happens the next time the scales tip?"

 

She glared, holding back tears.  "Kick the scales over and move on.  _Together_ this time.  You understand?"

 

He rested his forehead on her shoulder to hide the tears in his own eyes.  "Yes."

 

At last, she smiled.  "I'll hold you to that."

 

"Yes."  He raised his head again and smiled back.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Since time passes differently between Earth and Faerie, Yahiko is no longer the same age as Yutarô.


	36. Chapter 36

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Omake**

 

_For kokoronagomu, the one RuroKen friend who stuck with me despite everything.  Here's my very last KK, written solely for you, since God knows I wouldn't have been able to write it otherwise~_

 

**A/N:  Takes place directly after chapter 16 of _The Sleeping Prince_.**

 

And ftr, Sir (you know who you are), you are my "crossover friend." ;)

 

o.o.o

 

     Fureddo and Haari didn't usually have to sneak into their master's bedchamber at insane hours of the morning anymore - Kenshin was depressed enough these days to the point of sleeping in every day, or at least what counted as "sleeping in" for him.

     "Good morning, Your Majes--  Guh!"  Haari hastily yanked the bed curtain closed again.

     Kaoru stirred and grumbled in her sleep.  Kenshin smiled and drew one of the sheets up over her naked body, then reached out to open the curtain again.  "Good morning."

     "Ah - good morning.  Should we come back at a...more convenient time for Your Majesty?"

     Kenshin couldn't stop smiling.  "Yes.  Thank you."

     The servants bowed and politely started to close the curtain again.

     "No.  Let the sunlight stay."

     "As you command."  When they left the chamber, they were smiling, too.

     Kenshin slipped a hand under the sheet and studied his wife for a minute, then leaned to kiss her awake.

     When she opened her eyes, she found her husband lying beside her, felt his hands on her, and for a while she just gazed at him and relished him, reaching out idly to stroke her own hand over him.  "It's a miracle," she finally said.  "You're still in bed."

     "A difficult feat," he responded with gentle playfulness, "but for you, this one seems to have managed it."  They kissed again, long and slow, and at some point it became apparent that they weren't going to be getting out of bed anytime soon.

     It was long past breakfast time when they finally emerged - the girls were playing with Sôjirô in the garden, and Kenji was anxiously going over papers with an indulgent-looking Katsura.

     "...but I can't think of anything else to _do_ , so they're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it, because they're not the only people who live here and the merchants have rights, too."

     "Kenji, whatever you do, someone or other is going to be resentful.  You have to keep the good of the whole in mind, and never stop showing that you care."

     "Man, being a grown-up isn't as fun as I thought it'd be."

     They both noticed the king and queen at the same time.  "My goodness, aren't you up early," Katsura teased.  "Saitô has had his hands full with today's business."

     "This one is sure he has been up to the task," Kenshin said tranquilly.

     Kaoru went over to put her arms around her son.  "How have you been making out, my love?"

     "I did it," Kenji announced.  "Had to pull an all-nighter, but I have a plan!  Look."  He showed her the stack of papers covered with his half-legible scrawl.

     "I can't wait to hear your proposal," Kaoru said, kissing him.

     Kenji studied his parents, taking in their smiles and lit-up faces.  And their hickeys.  "Were you doing make-up sex?" he accused.

     "How do you even know what that is?!" Kaoru exclaimed.

     "Ugh.  Megumi told me about the sex part ages ago, and Sano told me about the make-up part.  You're not mad at each other anymore?!"

     "Wrongs have been mended, that they have," Kenshin said as he clasped hands with his wife.  "This family will no longer be divided."

     "No!  It's not fair!  I don't _want_ you to make up!"

     They stared at him.  "Kenji!"

     "What is it that troubles you?"

     "I _like_ Grandpa's country," Kenji growled.  "It's greener, and people aren't jerks so much, and his navy's better.  You can't keep me away!"

     Kaoru raised an eyebrow.  "Who said we were going to?"

     Kenji gave them a wary look.

     "Kenji," his father said gently, "you are heir to both thrones, that you are.  You may come and go as you please between both countries.  The state of the relationship between your mother and I has nothing to do with that."

     Kenji considered this, looking dubious.  "Fine.  You can like each other, then."

     "Glad we have your permission," Kaoru said dryly.

     The girls' reaction was more supportive.  "Daddyyyyyy!"

     "Mommyyyyyy!"

     They raced toward them and were scooped up by their laughing parents.

     "Daddy, we found a frog!"

     "His name is Toady!"

     "No, his name is Robert!"

     "Toady!"

     "Robert!"

     "Toady!"

     "Robert!"

     "Let's name him Primrose," Kaoru teased.

     "Okay," the girls agreed readily enough.  Then, "Hey, look, Suzume, Mommy and Daddy are together again."

     "Forever," Kenshin affirmed, kissing them.

     "Ayame-chan," Kaoru said, "Suzume-chan.  How would you like to be bridesmaids?"

     Their eyes lit up.  "In a wedding?"

     "Pretty dress?"

     "Bridesmaids?" Kenshin echoed in mild confusion.

     "Yes," Kaoru said.  "Mommy and Daddy are getting married again."

     "Getting married!"

     "Yaaaayyy!"

     Kaoru glanced over at her husband and grinned.  "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

     He set down Ayame and knelt in response, clasping his queen's free hand.  "Kaoru-don--  Kaoru."

     Her smile grew wider.

     "You would do this one unfathomable honor by granting him the privilege of once again becoming your husband."

     As royal weddings go, it was a small one.  Called on such short notice that the castle staff was dismayed, since two weeks was not nearly enough time to do justice to such an event; the ceremony attended only by the most important officials and the couple's closest family and friends; the people massed eagerly outside to see the (re-)newlyweds...but Kenshin had never been one for pomp, and Kaoru was inclined to keep the whole thing as intimate as possible.

     As far as they were concerned, it went well.  Titania, insisting on attending Kenshin alongside the grumbling Sanosuke, behaved herself when she saw how little resistance her grandson made to her presence.  Kenji (not realizing that he was being closely guarded from the yearning Faerie Queen by Sôjirô) behaved himself as well, mostly because he wanted to prove to Hiko and Saitô that he wasn't a clueless forest brat.  Hiko quelled any rowdiness from the fae, and though it tickled a bit to have a curious fairy tucked under her veil ("I'm gonna have a wedding just like this when Aoshi-sama's ready!"), Kaoru forgot about little Misao's presence as she clasped her husband's hands and began to exchange vows with him.

     "Suzume," Ayame whispered as they stood watching with Megumi and Tomoe, "Mommy looks really pretty, right?"

     "Flowers," Suzume said, holding up the one she had saved.

     "Hush, loves," Megumi whispered.  Ayame clasped her hand and leaned against her.

     "Happy ever after?" Suzume inquired of Tomoe, taking her hand as well.

     "Forever," she murmured in confirmation.

     On the dais, Kenshin had eyes only for his wife.  "...and I, too," he finished, "renew this pledge to love and cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

     Kaoru's eyes were shining as she handed off her bouquet to the first person who took it.  Their arms were already around each other, their mouths meeting, long before the groom was told that he was permitted to kiss his bride.

 

_The end_

 

Author's Notes:  **Kenshin/Kaoru fans, do not make me regret posting this.  Keep your comments on my non-KK fics to yourself.**

 

So...I took it into my head to write giftfics for my closest friends, starting work on the project back in July 2012.  Most of the stories for my current fandom were drafted fairly quickly, but the Rurouni Kenshin fics were problematic because I hate writing for RuroKen now.  Having zero inspiration for KK, I tried turning to fairy tales, as I have in the past, but after a while, I hit a mental block and just _could not_ write anymore, I hate the pairing so much now.  So I tried again with an already-established universe, and this time it flowed well enough for me to finish, even though it's short and the writing sucks (not that anyone cares, since it's KK and therefore automatically awesome. -.- Apparently in the RuroKen fandom, "constructive criticism" means making anonymous, asinine comments that have nothing to do with the actual writing quality).  Sorry, Gin, this was the best I could do.

 ***Note to AO3 readers* If you want proper closure to this story, I would HIGHLY suggest that you read no further and pretend this is the end.**   The final chapter is not relevant to the plot of _The Sleeping Prince_ and sets up the next installment in the series, which I never intend to complete.


	37. Chapter 37

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 17 - In which Enishi and Titania put the castle to sleep.**

 

_"And till seven years were gone and past_

_True Thomas on earth was never seen."_

Thomas the Rhymer

 

o.o.o

 

The Faerie King and Queen traveled through the bounds of time, aware of each other yet unable to communicate until they had emerged on a clear night in Himura Kenji's fourteenth year, soon after the reunion of his parents, who were currently halfway across the country dealing with some crisis.  As soon as they arrived safely not too far from Himura Castle, Titania turned to Enishi and said indignantly, "I didn't invite _you_ along, Unseelie brat!"

 

"Kenshin asked me to keep an eye on you," he shot back, folding his arms.  Actually, it had been his sister who had asked him to follow the Faerie Queen on her errand, but there was no need for Titania to know that.

 

"Did he, now," she huffed.  "It's like the boy doesn't trust me."

 

Enishi rolled his eyes.  "I'm not even going to respond to that."

 

"As if you're any better?" she snapped.  "The one who tried to kill him, and his wife, and--"

 

His hands had curled into fists, but he refused to rise to the bait.  "That's over now," he said through gritted teeth.

 

A look of realization suddenly crossed her face, and she grinned.  "No...no, it's not, dear," she said sweetly.  "As I _recall_ , at this point in time you're still gnashing your teeth in the depths below the Unseelie court."  She clapped her hands in mock-delight.  "Wouldn't it be a lovely idea to go visit your past self in prison?  I'm sure it'll be fun!"

 

He raised his hand, which had begun to glow ominously.  "We've fought two or three times by now, haven't we?" he said, falsely casual.  "The only time you beat me was when you had a hostage.  I'd speak more carefully, if I were you."

 

She switched gears at once.  "Oh, hush, I don't have time to play with you.  I've got a job to do, remember?"  She lifted her arms for the spell, but Enishi stopped her.

 

"Kenshin's children are still in there."

 

"I knew that," snapped.

 

"I'll be back," he said shortly, and vanished.

 

"Hey!" she shouted after him, but of course he couldn't hear, and wouldn't have listened even if he could.  Rolling her eyes, she flopped down as if onto an invisible chair and waited.

 

She was playing with a mouse, turning it into a frog and then a thimble and then a squirrel and then back into a mouse again, when she looked up and realized that people were streaming out of the castle.  Her mouth came open indignantly, and the mouse frantically scampered away.  It was in that moment that Enishi finally returned.  He had an unconscious teenage boy slung over his back and a sleeping girl under each arm.

 

"You _told_ them?" Titania accused, pointing at the castle.

 

"Did it ever occur to you," he said irritably, "that some of Kenshin's lesser minions might not _want_ to sleep for hundreds of years?"  He knelt carefully and laid the little girls down on the ground.

 

"And what about his important minions?" she challenged.  "Sagara and Sôjirô and the rest?  As I recall, you're not very popular around here at this time.  Why would they trust you?"

 

"I showed them Kenshin's letter," he said shortly, "and the photos.  They agreed to the plan."  He grunted as he pulled the boy down and laid him out beside his sisters.  "How helpful do you think they would have been if they were to wake up in the 1980's with no warning, no clue what's going on back there?"

 

Titania wasn't listening.  "Kenji!" she gasped in delight when she saw him.  "Oh, I forgot how _cute_ he was at this age!"

 

Enishi glared up at her.  "Don't you have a job to do?"

 

"It can wait," she said impatiently, reaching eagerly for the boy.  Before she could touch him, Enishi cast a glamour so that Kenji suddenly resembled a red-haired toad.  "How dare you?!" she shrieked, a little frantically.  "Take it off!  Take it _off_!"

 

"No, I don't think I will," he said pointedly.

 

Glaring, she turned back to the castle and raised her arms again.  Inside those stone walls, a deep sleep fell upon the remaining inhabitants.  They slumped down where they lay, their breath suspended, the beating of their hearts paused, frozen in time.  Saitô remained upright, a roll of tobacco still dangling from his mouth.  Yahiko's insensate fist still gripped his weapon; both Megumi and Sanosuke would have been outraged to find that the spell had caught them with his arm around her shoulders.  Sôjirô's eyes remained half-open, unblinking, as if somehow keeping watch.  Tae and Tsubame, their faces a little frightened, still clasped hands even in this charmed sleep.

 

"There," Titania huffed.  "Now make Kenji beautiful again!"

 

Enishi was studying the castle with a thoughtful frown.  Impatient at her insistence, he dissolved the glamour without sparing much attention from what he was interested in.  "It's not going to hold up through the wars and the Great Fire."

 

She looked up from where she was affectionately brushing Kenji's hair out of his eyes.  "But it's still around now," she said.  "I mean, back where we came from."

 

"It's also," he murmured, "got protections around it.  Very old ones."  He smiled coldly.  "I'd _wondered_ who could have cast a barrier of such strength and permanence.  My turn."  He raised his arms.

 

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then Titania noticed a dark shadow creeping slowly up the walls, and she frowned.  "What is...."  Plants, she suddenly realized.  Snaking up as if to grasp the castle, enfolding it in an expanding thicket of thorny growth.  "Rose bushes?" she said skeptically.

 

He had no attention to spare at the moment, but when the spell was complete, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It's transmutable, of course.  Kenji'll still be able to hack his way through and reclaim the place when he's of age, but the protections will stay in place for as long as...."  He shrugged.  "Well, they're still there."

 

"Are you sure?" she said condescendingly.  "In case you've forgotten, there aren't any roses growing over the castle in a few hundred years."

 

His lip curled disdainfully.  She never had learned to stop underestimating him - it was like she still saw him as a little boy trotting around at Oberon's heels.  "Wall of flames.  Stone battlements.  Chain-link fence.  Even invisible for all I know.  Doesn't matter; enemies will see what they expect to see, the barrier will remain...and so will the castle."

 

"How lovely," she said sweetly.  "Dear Kenshin will be well protected, won't he?"

 

"I don't care about him," he said shortly.  "As long as...."  Tomoe was living there now, with her youngest children.  He would die before he let any harm befall them.

 

"Well," Titania said brightly, "now that that's done, what are we going to do with Kenji?"

 

Enishi didn't bother to answer.  Obviously they were going to have to go chasing down Kenshin and his wife (of this time, anyway), and he was _not_ looking forward to seeing whatever mayhem his brother had caused here before deciding that this world was less interesting than the future.

 

"I could always take him back to the Seelie court," Titania suggested slyly.

 

Enishi glanced at her in mild annoyance.  It took him a moment to recall what she was talking about.  "You're not going to be able to get your hands on Kenji 'til he's fifty years old and well able to handle you.  I don't think so."

 

She sighed, then pouted.  "No one ever lets me have any fun...."

 

_To be concluded...._


	38. Chapter 38

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Epilogue**

 

_"True Thomas lay on Huntlie Bank,_

_A wonder he spied with his eye_

_And there he saw a lady bright,_

_Come riding down by Eildon Tree."_

Thomas the Rhymer

 

o.o.o

 

The pleasant clearing, deep in the heart of the forest, was a peaceful-looking place.  Birds twittered, rabbits hopped about, and the quiet was broken only by the sound of a girl's voice as she sang a sweetly melancholy tune.  She sat in the window of a tall tower, and she had been lonely for a long time.

 

So intent was she on her song and on her seclusion that she did not hear the sound of a horse's hoofs on fallen leaves, or see the young man who was leading it through the trees.  He stopped when he reached the clearing and stood for a moment, listening to the sound that had drawn him here.  Then he finally snorted in derision and called up, "Give it a rest, will you?  My _dad_ can sing better than you."

 

The girl gasped in surprise and leaped to her feet, staring down at the young man.  "Wh-Who are you?!"

 

He bowed, his form rather sloppy.  "Himura Kenji.  And you are?"

 

"Rapunzel," she said stiffly.   "And if you're not going to rescue me from this dread tower, I must ask you to leave at once."

 

Kenji's face lit up, and his hand fell to the (steel) sword at his waist.  "What's up, you got a dragon in there with you?"

 

"No!" she said indignantly.  "I have been imprisoned by an evil witch!  I cannot leave this tower."

 

"What, the door's locked?"

 

She frowned.  "There _is_ no door, fool."

 

He narrowed his eyes, but then circled the tower several times before satisfying himself that she was right.  "How the heck did you get in there, then?"

 

"My captor is a witch, remember?  _Obviously_ she bespelled the door into stone like the rest of the tower."

 

"How do you get your food, then?" he challenged.  "Lure birds to your window with your not-enchanting siren call and then bash them over the head?"

 

"I would _never_ do that!" she cried, horrified.  "The birds are my friends!  They are my only company in this lonely place."

 

"Huh.  That sucks," Kenji commented.  "What _do_ you eat, then?"

 

Rapunzel answered huffily, "The witch brings me food, and must climb up the rope of my hair to deliver--"

 

"She climbs up _what_?"

 

"My hair," Rapunzel said impatiently.  "Look."  She gathered up her long braid and tossed it out the window.

 

Kenji dodged, narrowly avoiding the heavy loops.  "Watch where you're throwing that stuff!"

 

"I apologize," she said unrepentantly.

 

Kenji eyed the braid, and his eyes widened at the sheer length.  Then he frowned again.  "You're telling me some fat old lady is able to climb that thing?  While carrying up a basket of food?  Doesn't it _hurt_?"

 

"I tie my braid around this hook," she muttered.  "Look, are you coming up or not?"

 

"Doesn't look much fun to me.  Why don't _you_ come _down_?"

 

"Fool," she said in disgust.  "I cannot climb down my own hair."

 

"Well, yeah, not if it's still attached to your own fool head," he said pointedly.  "So detach it."

 

Rapunzel stared down at him.  "You're telling me to _cut my hair_?"

 

"You said you're sick of it here," he pointed out.  "And I'm sure as heck not climbing up a girl's _braid_ and then carrying her dainty self back down.  You want to be free,  _you_ do it."

 

"Do you realize how long my hair has been growing?" she shouted down at him.  "It will take ages to get this long again!  I will not cut it!"

 

Kenji shrugged.  "Suit yourself, I guess.  Bye, Zel."  He went after his horse, picked up the trailing reins, and started to leave.

 

"HEY!"

 

He glanced over his shoulder.  "What?"

 

"You are going to leave a fair maiden in distress, you false knight?!"

 

"Not distressed enough, apparently."

 

"How dare you!"  She seized a pair of sewing scissors and hacked at her hair, near the shoulder where she could best reach.  It took her so long to cut through that she was afraid the rude young man would have left, but when she looked frantically out the window again, there he was, watching her.

 

"You really did it," he said wonderingly.

 

"I will not forgive you!" she shouted down at him.  Furiously, with tears smarting her eyes, she tied her shorn braid to the hook.  Then she gathered together what few things she wished to take with her and came back to the window.

 

"You should probably tie the braid around yourself, too," he advised.  "So you don't go splat if you lose your grip."

 

"Silence!" she shouted.  Then she paused.  "Thank you."

 

"No problem," he said coolly.

 

It was so hard.  _'How does she_ do _it?!'_ Rapunzel thought desperately.  The witch must use magic.  As Himura Kenji had said, there was no way a fat old woman could do this so effortlessly every day.  Rapunzel's hands were slipping and she was _heavy_ ; how much farther?!

 

"Use your feet, too!" Kenji called.  "Brace against the wall to take some of the weight off your hands."  Biting back a sharp retort, Rapunzel followed his instructions and was glad to find at least a little relief.

 

It seemed to last forever, the tense set of her body, the agonizing awareness of every movement, every inch closer to freedom.  She shrieked when something unexpectedly touched her.

 

"Easy, Zel.  You made it."

 

She was frozen for a moment, feeling his hands on her waist.  Then she let go of the braid and tumbled back into him; his arms closed around her, warm and comforting.  "Great job, Zel," he murmured, his face next to hers, though she couldn't see him.  "You're free."

 

"No thanks to you!" she retorted, and suddenly burst into tears.  This was all wrong.

 

"Aw, now don't be a wimp," he complained, letting go of her.

 

"I am a maiden!  Such behavior is expected!"

 

"By who?" he said in annoyance.  "If Mom acted like you, I bet Dad would never have married her."  Then, changing topics with such a lack of transition that she was confused for a moment, "Hey, you need a lift or something?"

 

She glared at the ground and pushed her toe around in the grass.  Her arms ached and the feel of the short, ragged ends of her ruined hair was heartbreaking.

 

He sighed.  "Get on the horse, then."

 

"I did not say I needed transportation.  Perhaps I planned to walk," she said defiantly.

 

He shrugged.  "Whatever.  See you around, Zel."  He turned back to his horse, but she shoved him aside as she stomped past and climbed up, where she stared down at him defiantly.  He came up and studied her, then suddenly grinned.  "Two of us on one horse.  You'll have to be in my lap."

 

She folded her arms.  "You plan to take advantage of me, then?" she challenged.

 

He frowned.  "For your information, I am not completely despicable."

 

"No.  You are simply rude, and refuse to follow protocol, and force me to rescue myself."

 

"Good," he said in satisfaction, "we understand each other, then."  He mounted and settled down behind her, reaching around to take the reins.  Then they sat there for a while.

 

"Are you planning to move, or to wait until the witch gets back?" she finally asked with nervous sarcasm.

 

"Sorry for being rude," he said abruptly.  "That's why girls are always falling all over Dad, 'cause he talks sweet even when they don't deserve it.  I'm not like him."

 

"I find it difficult to believe you could 'talk sweet' even if you tried," she grumbled.  "And for _your_ information, _I_ would deserve every bit of it."

 

To her shock, he chuckled and kissed her cheek.  "Is that so, Zel?  You're not very nice, either."

 

"I...know," she finally murmured.  "That's why my aunt locked me up - because I tried to stab her with a spindle."  She found his reaction insulting, even as she shivered at the pleasant sensation of him laughing into the remains of her hair.

 

"Excellent!" he said gleefully.  "Maybe you'd be good at kenjutsu, too."

 

"It is not funny!" Rapunzel insisted.  "She turned my puppy into a frog!"

 

"Well," he said, still laughing, "what do you say I get you a new puppy when we get home?"

 

"I would like that," she said stiffly.

 

He kissed her cheek again.  She giggled a little, then frowned and elbowed him in the chest, and at last they rode away.

 

_To be continued in "Immortality."_

 

Author's Notes:  I wrote this looooooong before the Disney movie _Tangled_ came out.  Kenji/Zel is such a random ship, but it seems to have worked for me so far.


	39. Chapter 39

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**_Part 5: Immortality_ **

Summary:  Kaoru thinks she is a normal high school student who happens to have caught the attention of one the richest men in the city. Ken O'Neill, however, seems to know her much better than he should from merely a few days' acquaintance, as do his employees. Why is he so interested in her, and what is his link to the infamous Battousai, who is fighting against a government now headed by Shishio Makoto? ***PERMANENTLY INCOMPLETE***

**Prologue**

 

"Dying isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Kaoru murmured thoughtfully.

 

"You're not dead yet," her husband grumbled.  He lay beside her, propping his head on one hand, her body nestled against his.  Their hands were clasped over her chest, his thumb idly caressing her knobby fingers.

 

"I'm almost a hundred years old," she pointed out.  "I'm sick.  I could go at any time."

 

"You've been saying that for months now."

 

"It's true."

 

He shifted his arm so he could lay his head down next to hers.  "What is this one supposed to do when you're gone?" he whispered.

 

"Find some other girl," she suggested.  "Someone who won't die on you this time.  Have lots of red-haired kids and remember me with fondness."  She was trying to tease, but her chest felt tight at the thought of _her_ Kenshin with another woman.  She didn't want to be selfish, but...well, she wasn't _quite_ dead yet.  "The sex'll finally be better again, anyway."

 

She smiled to feel his lips against her neck, soft kisses moving up to her ear, into which his voice finally breathed, "The sex has been fine."

 

"Only just 'fine'?" she teased.

 

He pulled himself up again, smiling, his face so close to hers that she felt his breath against her skin.  "It's been wonderful."

 

"Liar," she murmured, and their lips met.  When they parted, she took a moment to get her breath back and then said, "Well, you lie very well, I'll give you that much."

 

She reached up, as she had so often done, to trace the mark on his face, now thin and bright red.  It had been almost invisible for so long, but its color had become more and more vivid in recent months.  It was selfishly reassuring to see that, despite the contentment of their life together, he was distressed at the prospect of losing her.

 

It had been awful to watch herself growing older and older, wrinkles beginning to ravage her face, blue veins blossoming on her legs, the gray hairs becoming so numerous that she had given up plucking them out - as beside her, he remained handsome and ever-young, practically unchanged since their wedding day.

 

She had been upset and anxious at first, but his love had never wavered, patient through all the clinging and moodiness and jealousy, until finally she had given him her trust again and settled down into the way things had to be.

 

It had been painful....  For a while, she had refused to appear together with him in public, since she thought angrily that they looked like a young prince lovingly caring for an aging queen mother.  Yet eventually, she gave up and stopped trying to hide it.  It was a pitiful situation no matter what she did about it, and anyone whose opinion she cared about didn't bother them about it, anyway.  The brain she used to co-govern, after all, had only grown sharper with the years.

 

What had been more pleasant was watching the children grow up - watching Kenji charm the hearts of the people and take on rulership with earnest grace, watching the girls grow into beautiful, passionate young women.  Kenshin and Kaoru had been so reluctant to betroth their eldest daughter that she ended up falling in love with a young farm boy before they made a decision, and neither of them had had the heart to forbid such an outrageous marriage.

 

After that, they had been in some anxiousness about their younger daughter, but Suzume was perfectly willing to marry the nobleman who first asked for her hand.  He was many years her senior and not too handsome, but he was very kind and very rich and treated her like the princess she was, so that by the time their first child was born, Suzume declared that she couldn't possibly be happier.

 

In the meantime, their old friends slept on, hidden in a room that was nevertheless well furnished and well cared-for ("Not that they'll ever notice," Kenji sometimes pointed out).  Kenshin and Kaoru had been understandably upset to return, all those years ago, and discover what had happened, but the strange letter in Kenshin's familiar messy handwriting had been difficult to argue with.

 

_"...This one begs your trust in this matter.  Sano and the rest are sorely needed at this time, as you will one day come to understand...."_

With it had come the uncanny pictures, flat and glossy like stolen moments of time, showing Sanosuke and the others in strange clothes, smiling.  More ominous had been a thin paper printed in black and white, depicting a person who looked terribly, horrifically familiar.

 

Then something had happened a few years ago which convinced Kenshin that the letter spoke truth, and gave him dark thoughts of the future.  He had told Kaoru, who began to nurse a secret hope.  Yet if some strange adventure was to befall them, there had been no further sign of it, and now it seemed almost too late.

 

"This one will miss you so much," he whispered.

 

Her eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed his hand.  "What do you think it will be like?" she whispered back.  "Do you think it's like falling asleep?"  He gazed at her silently, unable to answer.

 

The door burst open and Tomoe swept in, still spry despite her aged body; she had been luckier than Kaoru in the effects of her mortality.  "Is Kaoru-san dead yet?"

 

Kenshin sat up to stare at her in astonishment, and Kaoru glared indignantly.

 

Akira came in then, laughing.  "You're not supposed to ask it like that, love."

 

"Really!" Kaoru agreed.  "You'll give _someone_ around here a bad impression!"

 

"Good," Tomoe breathed out in relief, presumably in response to the fact of Kaoru's continued survival rather than what she had actually said.  The enchantress turned to Kenshin.  "Kenshin-kun, I need to have some time alone with Kaoru-san.  Would you mind keeping Akira company for a little while?"

 

Kenshin and Kaoru glanced at each other.  Then she nodded, and he brought her hand up to kiss it.  "I love you," he said softly.

 

"Love you," she answered, returning his smile.

 

Outside the room, Kenshin leaned against the wall with folded arms to wait, and Akira paced slowly, looking restless.  "So," Kenshin finally said.  "How have you been?"

 

"Great," Akira said at once, and paused to smile at Kenshin.  He seemed excited and nervous, though he offered no explanation.

 

After an awkward pause, Kenshin asked curiously, "How are the children?"

 

"They're running me ragged, I don't know how Tomoe keeps up with them," he said happily.  "Sora started turning everything to ice last week, and it turns out that Rika's been so upset lately because she's growing wings.  It's got to be from Tomoe's side of the family, since everyone in my line has kept their feet firmly on the ground."

 

Kenshin nodded, smiling at the thought of the little ones.  "And Ena, how's she?"

 

"She's doing great, the baby came along fine."  Then he smirked.  "She swears _she_ didn't keep us up 24/7 when she was a newborn, but of course her memory back then was just a tad sketchy.  What about your own girls?"

 

It was not until the conversation had moved on to Chou's latest exploits that Tomoe finally came back out.  "I'm sorry, love," she told Akira.  "It looks like I'll be having to say good-bye sooner than I thought."  She smiled wryly.  "Kaoru-san doesn't quite trust me."

 

"What?" Kenshin said, startled.

 

Tomoe and Akira had wrapped their arms around each other and did not hear.  She closed her eyes and rested her head against him, and he rocked her gently.  "Will it take a long time?" he asked softly.

 

"I don't know," she sighed.  "It might be only a few minutes, or it might be years.  But Akira--"  She pulled back and looked earnestly into his eyes.  "I promise I will see you again."

 

"I'll be waiting," he said solemnly, stroking her silvery hair.  "I love you."

 

She kissed him, then went back into Kaoru's room.

 

"What was that all about?" Kenshin asked suspiciously.

 

Akira shrugged.  "You should ask your wife."

 

"Does this have something to do with Tomoe-dono's elixir?" Kenshin asked cautiously.

 

Akira smiled widely.  "She did it.  It works."  Then he frowned.  "At least, theoretically.  Tomoe hasn't tried it yet, and we didn't have any mortals to test for alternate effects."

 

"Please tell me," Kenshin growled, "that Kaoru-dono is not going to be your test subject."

 

"Only if she chooses to," Akira said, shrugging.

 

Kenshin started toward the door, but Akira quickly laid a hand on his arm.  "Kenshin, you know Tomoe.  She wouldn't do anything to hurt your wife."

 

"Once," Kenshin said coldly, "she did something terrible to this one's son, though wishing to keep him from hurt."  Akira's grip slackened helplessly, and Kenshin shoved the door open.

 

Tomoe still sat next to the bed, but she had leaned forward to pillow her head on her arms, and her eyes were closed.  Kaoru also lay apparently asleep, the rose she had kept over so many years clutched in her withered fist; an empty vial rested in her other palm.  Neither of the women moved, or responded when he called their names.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Note:  There was a reason why I'd had Tomoe with young kids even at an advanced age, but I never got a chance to fully deal with that.  Also, I'm almost certain that I gave that one kid the name "Sora" before getting into Kingdom Hearts, so I might have had a different Sora in mind.

 

Ftr, Kaoru accidentally drank too much of the elixir, and Tomoe was already gone by the time Kaoru made her decision.


	40. Chapter 40

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 1 - A Fated Meeting**

 

"Shut up," Arai Kaoru mumbled at...something.  She wasn't sure what it was, just that it was loud and annoying, beating over and over at her head like an alarm clock--

 

Oh no!

 

Kaoru fell out of bed with a thunk, clawed at her clock until she finally killed the alarm, then crawled blindly around her room, searching for bits of her school uniform.  By this time, her eyes were reasonably functional and she was able to locate her book bag and comb, so that she was fairly presentable by the time she stumbled downstairs.  As usual, the rest of her family was already up and about, looking obscenely fresh and cheery for so early in the morning.

 

"Good morning, Kaoru-chan," her mother laughed.  "Goodness, you're up early!"

 

"School, Mom!" Kaoru said in exasperation, pausing only to plant a kiss on her father's head before shoveling down a bowlful of rice.

 

"Piggy!" her little brother laughed, from his high chair where his mother was trying to feed him.

 

Kaoru glared indignantly.  "I liked it better when you called me tanuki."

 

"Piggy tanuki!" little Iori said happily.  Kaoru rolled her eyes and gulped down the rest of her breakfast.

 

The radio was going in the background, a soft stream of news reports.  _"...eagerly, and anticipation is high about Vice-Chancellor Shishio's new proposal about the issue.  In other news, DNA analysis has confirmed that the deaths of Tsukasa Kei and Shuro were_ not, _in fact, the work of the so-called 'Hitokiri Battousai,' but of the couple's son, Tsukasa Kagami, age 25, who confessed to the murders yesterday evening.  Police believe...."_

 

"Geez, Dad," Kaoru complained, "turn that stuff off in front of Iori."

 

"Oh!" Mr. Arai exclaimed, and reached to change it to a different station.  "I forgot it was on."

 

Kaoru finished breakfast and brushed her teeth in a record seven seconds, then shot out the front door.

 

"Have a good day at school!" Mrs. Arai called after her.

 

"Love you!" the seventeen-year-old called back, already rushing down the street.

 

Mr. Arai frowned and turned to his wife.  "I thought this was an off-Saturday."

 

"I thought so, too," Mrs. Arai said in puzzlement.  The conversation never progressed, since Iori chose that moment to dump his breakfast on the floor.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru pounded down the street, listening to the refrain in her head accompanying the sound of her feet on the pavement:  _'I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!'_

 

Of _course_ she would reach the bus stop just as the bus was pulling away, traveling inexorably down the street no matter how loud she yelled at it or how crazily she waved her arms after it.  She paced back and forth impatiently as she waited for the next bus, then finally plopped down on the bench and yanked out her battered school-issue copy of _The Tempest_.  She had a vague idea that they were supposed to have a reading exam the next time her literature class met.

 

When the next bus _finally_ pulled up five minutes later, Kaoru found a seat and kept her nose buried in the book, frantically speed-reading; she hadn't studied at all, and there was no time to enjoy the scenery.

 

 _Thou, my slave,_  
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;  
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate  
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,  
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,  
By help of her more potent ministers  
And in her most unmitigable rage,  
Into a cloven pine; within which rift  
Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain  
A dozen years; within which space she died  
And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans  
As fast as mill-wheels strike.

 

Kaoru thumbed through to later acts, and despite herself, her attention became so absorbed in Ariel's story that she would have missed her stop if someone else hadn't also needed to get off there.  She sprang up at the realization and stumbled down the narrow aisle, shoving her way out of the bus's exit doors.

 

Too rushed to even spare a glance at Himura Castle, which she liked to admire on slower days, Kaoru ran on down the street, wondering vaguely why she seemed to be the only one in a school uniform.  Well, she was late; presumably all the students were now sitting in class, not on the street.  Then she reached the school and came to a stop.

 

Why on earth were the gates locked?  She stood there in confusion, looking at the padlock, wondering why the school was still closed at this hour of the morning.  "Um, hello?" she said to it.  "Late student here, trying to get to class...."

 

The campus looked deserted.  Then, and only then, did it occur to Kaoru that today was a Saturday; perhaps--  "Arghhh!"  Now that her brain had finally paused to _think_ , she remembered that she _had_ been at school last Saturday - which meant that this was an off-week.  Which meant that she had woken up early and pelted down here for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.

 

"Fine, then!" she shouted at the gates.  "Be that way!"  After delivering a jarring kick to the insensate entryway, she made her slow, depressed way back down the street.  She could have slept in...she could have eaten a full breakfast for once...she could have put off studying for the Shakespeare exam some more....

 

"Argh!" Kaoru suddenly yelled.  In that particular moment, there seemed to be no better way to express her feelings than to fling her book bag away as hard as she could - so she did so.  Even as the strap was leaving her fingers, the thought crossed her mind that this was probably a bad idea, but by now it was too late.

 

"Oro?!"

 

Groaning in mortification, Kaoru turned apprehensively to look at whomever she had just assaulted.  She was surprised at the sight of him - his bright red hair and blue eyes would have been enough to make him stand out in a crowd, so the long scars on his otherwise good-looking face seemed like overkill.  He was somehow still upright, though he had been knocked against a wall and was now staring at her with huge eyes as he clutched her bag.  He probably thought she was insane.

 

"I am so, so sorry," Kaoru gasped, hurrying over to him.  "I shouldn't have done that, it was really stupid.  Are you all right?"

 

"Y...Yes," he said faintly, his eyes glued to her face.

 

"I'm - not usually this, er, violent," Kaoru said awkwardly.  "I was just...frustrated."

 

Then she waited, but he seemed to have no plans to speak or return her bag.  Arching an eyebrow, Kaoru took hold of her bag and tried to pull it away.  "You're here," he whispered.

 

Kaoru hesitated.  "Do I...know you?" she asked slowly, suddenly a little dizzy.  She thought, very strongly, that she _should_ know him, but she couldn't recall ever seeing him before in her life.

 

"Do you...remember this one?" he returned cautiously.

 

Kaoru blinked, startled by the unusual pronoun.  "Um...."  Suddenly realizing that she was clutching the hand of a complete stranger, who was probably wondering whether he should be calling the police or the mental hospital first, Kaoru gasped and jerked away.  "I'm sorry!" she said again, clutching her bag to her chest as she backed away, her face flaming.  "I - I'm really sorry for throwing things at you and for, uh, acting so weird, I...um...bye!"

 

She turned to flee, but stumbled at the surprising note of desperation in his voice when he called after her to wait.  "Ka--  I mean, ma'am, this one is not offended, and would, um...."

 

She glanced back at him in surprise.  He sounded as flustered as she was.  "What's wrong?" he finally asked her.  Then he hurried to explain, with a stunningly cute sheepish smile, "People don't usually throw things at people unless they are upset, that they don't."

 

"Oh."  Kaoru's face was _past_ flaming now, but she supposed he deserved an explanation.  "It's really stupid, actually...but I guess you already think I'm an idiot, so it can't hurt to tell you.  It's just that I thought I was late for school, and I was in this huge rush, and it turns out there's not even any school today.  Okay?  Okay.  I'm going to go home now and bash my head repeatedly against my bedroom wall."  That last part hadn't been necessary.  Wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her, Kaoru turned away, hoping she would never see this beautiful stranger again.  The mortification was starting to make her sick.

 

"Wait, please."

 

What the heck!  Kaoru spun, suddenly angry.  "What do you _want_?!  I apologized, didn't I?  Leave me alone!"

 

He was giving her that wide-eyed stare again.  "Oro, this one only meant...well, if you have no school today, then would you like, instead, to...well, this one would be pleased to show you around the castle, that he would."

 

Kaoru blinked.  For the first time, she realized that the young man was wearing one of the Himura Castle pins on his shirt, as if he was either a tourist or affiliated with the place.  Probably the former, since he looked to be foreign, despite the flawless Japanese accent.  "Huh?"

 

He smiled sheepishly again.  "Perhaps it is an odd request, but...to make up for such a bad start to the day, this one would like to treat you."

 

"Um, I don't have any money," Kaoru said uncomfortably.

 

He shook his head.  "This one meant, he would like to offer you a free tour, compliments of the staff and managers of Himura Castle."  He grinned.  "There is another hour or so before the tourists will begin flocking."

 

"But you can't do that!" Kaoru protested.  "I wouldn't like you to pay for me--  Or, wait...you don't work here, do you?"

 

"This one is the owner."

 

It took a minute for Kaoru to process this.  "Mr....Ken...O'Neill...?" she whispered.  Owner of Himura Castle.  One of the richest men in the city.  And she had just flung a bag of heavy books at his head and then acted like a complete and total idiot.

 

Kaoru put her head in her hands and burst into tears.

 

"Oro?!"  He came close and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder.  "Kaoru-dono?"

_'I'm such a moron,'_ she thought distractedly.  She had _completely_ humiliated herself, not just to a total stranger, but to _Ken O'Neill_.  Cripes, he may even have reviewed the scholarship application she had sent in for college next year!  Kaoru had never been more embarrassed in her _life_.

 

"It's all right, miss," he was saying soothingly.  "This one had no right to ask such a thing.  Deepest apologies."  He paused.  She was still crying, though the sobs had diminished somewhat.

 

Kaoru felt a feathery touch on her fingers, and parted them just enough to see that he was holding a piece of cloth in front of her face.  She took it miserably, then realized what it was she was holding.  "Is this a _handkerchief_?" she said in wobbly surprise.

 

"Yes.  You may keep it if you wish."

 

Looking at the thing, admiring the beautiful rose embroidered in the castle logo at one corner, Kaoru gasped, "I can't blow my nose on this thing!  I'll ruin it!"

 

"You have to blow your nose on _something_ , that you do," he pointed out reasonably, and Kaoru wanted to dissolve as she realized that now she was standing in front of Ken O'Neill with a snot-covered face.

 

One hand shot up to cover the offensive material, the other groped helplessly at her bag.  "I...I've got to have a tissue here somewhere...."  She was determinedly avoiding looking at Mr. O'Neill again, so it was too late when she finally realized that he had pulled one of his long sleeves over his hand and was now reaching for her nose.

 

Kaoru would have shrieked in horror at the sight of him messing up his expensive clothes - but at his touch, she was suddenly frozen by a wave of blank memory.  Someone...when she was little, someone had cleaned her face after she cried....  The feeling was so elusive that Kaoru finally gave up chasing it.  When her eyes cleared, she realized that her face was dry, and Mr. O'Neill was now folding the soiled sleeve backwards, then the other sleeve to match.

 

"I cannot _believe_ you did that," Kaoru said helplessly.

 

"I was happy to be of service," he answered, with no trace of irony in his smile.  "Now, what will it be, Kaoru-dono?  Shall this one escort you home, or around the castle?"

 

"Please," Kaoru begged.  "Please please please don't tell me that you know my name from the scholarship application."

 

For a second he seemed caught, but then his face cleared.  "Oh!  So it _was_ you.  Not to worry, Kaoru-dono, my secretary mailed off your acceptance letter yesterday.  You should be receiving it quite soon."

 

Kaoru moaned, covering her face again.  "Mr. O'Neill," she said, almost conversationally, "what would you do if you had...I don't know...beat up a guy and thrown up all over him, then realized he was, like, the Chancellor or something?"

 

She was startled when he took hold of her hands and actually lifted them away from her face.  "Kaoru-dono," he said firmly.  "Even if you _had_ done such things to this one, which you didn't--"  The corner of his mouth quirked as if he was suddenly amused.  "--he would still be honored to have met you.  And please - this one certainly is not the Chancellor, and would prefer that you addressed him by his name."

 

Kaoru, staring at him through a roil of emotions, found herself fixing on this last bit.  "But you're--  You're Ken O'Neill!  I can't just call you...what, _Ken-san_ or something!"

 

He laughed more than her frustrated attempt at humor was worth.  "That will do for now," he said finally said, still grinning.  Then he settled her arm on his and gestured questioningly up at Himura Castle.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "Oh well.  This day can't get any worse.  Lead on."  She suddenly looked away.  "And...thank you."

 

It was odd stepping into Himura Castle before business hours.  The foyer stretched out, grand and empty, so that their footsteps echoed mightily.  At the far end, a custodian was waxing the floor.  He raised a hand when Kaoru entered with her companion, and Mr. O'Neill returned the silent greeting with a smile.

 

A woman in uniform came clicking up to the Information Booth in high heels, dumping down a stack of papers.  She raised her eyes to Mr. O'Neill and opened her mouth to speak, but froze with an expression of astonishment at the sight of Kaoru.

 

"Megumi-dono," Mr. O'Neill said smoothly, and Kaoru glanced at him - he had used the odd honorific for this woman, as well.  "Please allow this one to introduce Kamiya Kaoru.  She will be a guest here this morning.  Kaoru-dono, this is Sagara Megumi-dono, officially our medic, though she has proven indispensible in other capacities as well."

 

Kaoru's stomach had plunged.  "I...I think there's been a mistake," she fumbled, trying to pull away.  He kept hold of her arm and looked at her in puzzlement.  "My name...."  He must have mistaken her for someone else.  He thought she was this 'Kamiya' person, and now there was going to be a horribly awkward moment when he realized she was just some random stranger--

 

"Ah!"  He looked a little sheepish.  "Forgive this one, Kaoru-dono.  He, er, used to know someone very much like you, whose name was Kamiya."

 

The Megumi lady snorted with amusement, and Kaoru gave her a sulky look.  She wasn't sure she liked her much.

 

"Arai Kaoru, that is," Mr. O'Neill was now saying.  "Please make her feel welcome, Megumi-dono."

 

Megumi waved her arm dismissively.  "Of course, but where did you _find_ her?"

 

Kaoru was a little offended, but Mr. O'Neill laughed.  "She threw a book bag at this one's head, actually."

 

The woman sniffed.  "Figures.  Some things will never change."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru demanded, hot with embarrassment.

 

"Nothing you need to trouble your head about at the moment.  Anyway, Ken-san, Sae-san is out sick, and I will _not_ play receptionist again, even for you."

 

Kaoru nearly choked.  This woman had the boldness to call him Ken-san?  Was she his girlfriend?  Then Kaoru remembered Mr. O'Neill asking her to call him that, too, and was not sure what to think.

 

He was laughing.  "Of course not, Megumi-dono.  Let Saitô know, he'll find someone."

 

"All right," Megumi agreed.  She made a movement as if she was about to leave, but then looked at Kaoru and hesitated.  To Kaoru's surprise, she suddenly smiled and took her hands.  "Kaoru-san, I am really glad to see you here."

 

"Um...thank you.  It's good to meet you, too," Kaoru stammered.

 

Megumi stepped back.  "Please enjoy your visit," she said, then walked away.

 

After a slightly awkward pause, Mr. O'Neill smiled.  "Shall we continue, then?"

 

"Don't you have...I don't know, work to do or something?" Kaoru said hesitantly.  Then, realizing how that must sound, "Oh!  I mean, not that I'm not grateful, really; it's just that, you seem so important around here, and--"

 

"This one would much rather be spending the time with you," he answered, with such a lack of inhibition that Kaoru's face went scarlet and she couldn't think of anything to say except a subdued, "Oh."

 

"We are," Mr. O'Neill said in a tour guide's voice, as they began walking again, "currently in the main reception hall, where the old kings and queens would receive important visitors.  There used to be a large outer courtyard, where merchants set up shop and commoners wishing audience with their sovereign were processed, but that property was lost over time and, as you can see, is now covered with roads and other businesses."

 

"You know a lot about this place," Kaoru said in surprise.  "Didn't you just buy it fairly recently from the Himuras?"

 

He smiled.  "This castle holds much interest for this one.  Have you ever been here before, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"Once, on a school field trip," she admitted, looking at the paintings as they walked slowly by.  "I guess I wasn't paying much attention, though.  I never noticed how beautiful it is inside."

 

"That it is," he agreed.  Kaoru wondered about the softness in his voice, but before she could look over at him, her interest was caught in the painted ceiling they had just walked under.

 

She paused, staring up at the colorful, violent scene.  "It looks like a battle between fairies or something," she commented.

 

" _The Victory of the Seelie Court_ , commissioned by Himura Kenji I," Mr. O'Neill said in amusement.  He pointed.  "That's him up there, the red-haired warrior near the center, beside the Faerie Queen."

 

Kaoru stared.  "He looks...almost like _you_!" she said in surprise.  "That cut on his face even looks like--!"  She broke off hastily, not wanting to offend him.

 

"Ah."  He suddenly seemed uncomfortable.  "Perhaps there is a resemblance.  Come, Kaoru-dono."

 

She let herself be led on, but just before they reached the next wing, they were stopped by a tall man whose spiky hair seemed out of place with his security officer's uniform.  "Kenshin, there's--"  He caught sight of Kaoru and openly gaped.

 

Kaoru stared back.  Were _all_ the employees of Himura Castle this weird?  "Hi," she said pointedly.

 

"Sano, this is Kami--  Er, Arai Kaoru," Mr. O'Neill introduced her.  "This one is taking her to have a look around before things get crowded.  Kaoru-dono, allow this one to introduce Sagara Sanosuke, head of our security and this one's very good friend."

 

"Hi," Kaoru said again, warming up a little.  She bowed, and the man nodded after a moment.

 

"Hi, Jouchan," he said cautiously, and for some reason, he was grinning like he'd struck gold - though luckily, it was more in a 'Sw33t, my team just won!' way than a 'Heheh, hot young girl' way.  Yup, everyone in this castle was _definitely_ weird.

 

"What were you going to report?" Mr. O'Neill reminded him.

 

Officer Sagara shook his head, keeping his eyes on Kaoru as he spoke.  "Yahiko's just gotten back, says Sôjirô's back in place and Saitô's given us the all-clear.  Tonight, Kenshin."

 

Mr. O'Neill nodded.  "Understood.  Thank you, Sano."

 

The man bowed deeply to them both, then strode on past them.

 

"What did he call you?" Kaoru said in puzzlement.

 

"Perhaps you might call it a nickname," he said slowly.  "This one is more accustomed to that than to 'Mr. O'Neill.'  Kaoru-dono...would it be too great a request for this one to ask of you, that you call him by that name?"

 

She blushed.  "You're kind of forward, you know," she mumbled.

 

"Ah."  He seemed disappointed, but not surprised.

 

Oh, what the heck.  He was calling her 'Kaoru-dono,' after all.  "Kenshin..." she winced, "...-san."  Then her eyes widened.  "Kenshin."  The word on her lips...her mouth formed the syllables easily, much too easily, as if she had spoken this name a thousand times before.  "Kenshin.  Kenshin."  He looked at her, concerned, and it was no wonder.  She lifted shaking hands to her eyes and found her cheeks wet with tears.

 

"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" she choked, and then she was crying in earnest.  _'What is_ wrong _with me?'_ she thought, shocked at the swell of grief in her heart, simultaneously irritated with this horribly irrational fit.  Luckily, the embarrassment was only a sullen glow, rather than the skin-crawling shame she had been afflicted with outside.  She must be getting used to crying and acting like an idiot in front of this man.

 

She stiffened when he put his arms around her.  He was gentle, barely touching her; even so, he was practically a stranger, he shouldn't be doing this.  Yet it felt so....  She had to work very hard not to give in to the temptation to go limp against him and cry into his shoulder.  She knew it would feel good.  She wanted him to hug her close, but she was also repelled at this invasion of her boundaries.  All this she thought while crying, as if she was calmly watching her body rather than engaged in the activity herself.

 

"Kaoru-dono," he said finally, sounding rather helpless, "please accept this one's sincere apologies.  Feel free to call him whatever you wish."

 

She wiped her eyes.  He silently held out that handkerchief of his again, and her face went hot.  She took it without protest this time.  "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" she asked in disgust when she had used it.

 

He smiled.  "Keep it.  Give it back.  Throw it away.  Whatever you like, Kaoru-dono."

 

A little defiantly, she handed it back, and was slightly disappointed when he took it without hesitation, folded it so all the grossness was contained, and slipped it back into his pocket.  "Thanks, um--"  She froze, caught.  He raised an eyebrow, waiting.  "Thanks, Mr. O'...."  It sounded wrong now.  Too formal for a man who had let her blow her nose on his sleeve and had watched her cry with sympathetic eyes.  "Ken-san," she said uncomfortably, but that wasn't right, either.  She closed her eyes.  "Kenshin," she whispered, afraid she would start crying again.

 

She didn't.  She opened her eyes.  "Kenshin," she said testingly.  He smiled.  Again, the word came much too quickly to her lips, feeling like a part of her mouth rather than a foreign sound carried by her voice.  But looking at him, at his smile, that strange unbidden grief seemed to recede, and she could say the name almost with a straight face.  "Thank you, Kenshin."

 

"You're welcome," he whispered.

 

They continued on.  Kenshin was silent for a while, but then seemed to rouse himself and spoke again in that tour guide's voice.  "Apologies.  This wing we're coming up on now is where the royal family had their private chambers."  He suddenly paused, then turned to smile at her.  "Would you like to see the suite of the king and queen, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"Sure," she agreed, curious despite everything.  The castle really was impressive, and being able to see it without the distraction of crowds gave her admiration a more serious quality.

 

They turned into a set of open doors, where the furnishings of the front sitting-room were quietly cordoned off.  _'Don't touch,'_ Kaoru thought with a regretful little smile.  She went up as close as she could and slowly made the circuit, taking in every beautiful object at her leisure.

 

The paintings were quite interesting, though most of them seemed rather preoccupied with some sort of fantasy world.  An image of a king sitting in council with his advisors depicted a couple of fairies flitting around his head; a queen smiled down at her infant as a winged cat looked on curiously; fantastic creatures mirrored the actions of warriors in the heat of battle, and the like.  "Lots of fairies," she commented.

 

"The Himura line, particularly in its earliest-recorded years, had many legends linking them with Faerie - Fairyland," he clarified when he saw her uncomprehending expression.  "There are many stories about princes and princesses consorting with the Faerie Queen, getting involved in fey battles, things like that.  Of course, that was very early on, though even in more recent times when belief in such things was mostly dead, the Himura monarchs liked to retain at least a symbolic link with the fey realm.  For example, the imagery in this painting here was meant to indicate that the king's actions had the blessing of Faerie."

 

"A lot of them have red hair," Kaoru observed, frowning.

 

He looked uncomfortable again.  "Yes...again, that would be in the early years.  Legend has it that the kings were descended from the Faerie Queen herself.  Of course, the more likely explanation is that one of them was a foreigner, who would have inherited the throne if there were no brothers-in-law."

 

"Hm."  Kaoru nodded, but she smiled a little as she looked back and forth between Kenshin and the portraits.  "You still look an awfully lot like the guys in these pictures.  You're not a king in disguise, are you?" she teased.

 

She was surprised at the intensity of his reaction, at the imploring expression in his eyes.  "Kaoru-dono...."

 

"It's just a joke," she said quickly.  "I'm sorry."

 

His smile was weak, but conciliatory.  "Haha...no offense taken, not at all."  His smile solidified suddenly.  "Come, this one will show you the bedchamber."

 

"It's roped off," she pointed out.

 

The twinkle in his eyes was truly mischievous as he moved the little barrier aside and gestured invitingly.

 

"Mr.--  I mean, Kenshin!" she gasped.  "You can't do that!"

 

"Yes, this one will get into a lot of trouble," he laughed.  She shook her head, smiling, realizing that he had a point.

 

A bit nervously, she entered the room and looked around in awe.  The place seemed so quiet, so old and secret.  She felt like an intruder in her pleated skirt and baggy socks.

 

"Most of the furnishings are from different eras," he murmured, so quietly that the hush of the place seemed barely disturbed.  "For example, these chairs are from the days of Himura Kenji III and the bureau is even more recent, but the bed belonged to the parents of Himura Kenji I."

 

"It's _that_ old?" she whispered in shock.

 

"You _are_ in a museum," he reminded her.  He sat down on one side of the bed and patted the other.  Gingerly, Kaoru lowered herself onto the edge of the bed and gently fingered the richly-embroidered coverlet.  "It's so beautiful."

 

"Yes," he said softly.

 

"Royalty once slept here," Kaoru said in awe.  Almost dreamlike, she slowly lay her head on the pillows and closed her eyes.  Gradually, she felt her tense body relax, and her mind seemed to sink farther and farther into the past until she was dreaming that she was a queen, walking the empty halls of a castle and weeping.  _Lost, lost, all of them are lost...._

 

She awoke with a start and quickly sat up, only to find tears on her face.  Wiping them off angrily, she looked around for Kenshin and found him standing by the window almost all the way across the room, looking out onto the grounds.

 

Actually, he was doing that _now_.  There had been an instant when she had turned to him and found him gazing at _her_ , but he had quickly looked away when their eyes met.  "How long was I asleep?!" she exclaimed in dismay.

 

"Not long," he said quietly, still staring out the window.  "This one did not wish to disturb you."

 

Kaoru frowned, and as she slid back off the bed, she was aghast to find that the coverlet, delicate with age, had ripped in response to her movements.  "Oh!" she gasped.  "I...I...."

 

She cringed when he came over in concern, but when he saw the torn cloth, he only smiled and reached down idly to smooth the material flat.  "Do not worry about it, Kaoru-dono.  Come, it's past opening time.  We had better get out of here before the tourists show up and want to know why _they_ can't come crowding in as well."

 

"Right," Kaoru muttered, still red-faced.

 

When they came out again, they headed back for the entrance and met little groups of tourists leisurely making their way through the corridors.  Kaoru looked at them curiously, feeling a little smug that she had been allowed special privileges.  For the museum owner himself to have shown her around, allowing her into the exhibits themselves and writing off damage to them as nothing....  Well, actually, it was a little odd, come to think of it, seeing as they had only just met.

 

"Ken-jiichan!"  Two teenage girls were suddenly barreling towards them, shocking Kaoru when they flung their arms around Kenshin and screamed with laughter.

 

He laughed back and hugged them both.  _'Well,_ you _certainly have a way with women,'_ Kaoru thought in annoyance (though what was with the "jiichan" business?).  "Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, it is wonderful to see you.  Have you brought your mother with you, as well?"

 

"She had to work today!" they cried, pouting.  "But _we_ came to see you, Ken-jiichan!"

 

He held them away and gave them a stern look, though a twinkle was still visible in his eyes.  "Now, weren't you telling this one that you have a paper due Monday, Aya-dono, and that your science project needs to be done by Tuesday, Suzumi-dono?"

 

They glomped him again, begging playfully, "But we can do them tonight!  Please, pleeeaaase let us stay?"

 

He shook his head, smiling again.  "How about this one comes over later to help?"

 

"But then you'll make us work," Aya protested.  "I wanted to put it off longer!"

 

"No, no, it's okay!" her companion assured her.  "'Cause then Ken-jiichan can stay 'til Mom comes home, and we can have a party!"

 

"Not tonight, I'm afraid," he told her.  "There are already plans.  Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, this one wishes you to meet someone."  Kaoru immediately found herself the object of two intense, curious gazes.  "Girls, this is...."  He paused meaningfully.  "...Kaoru-dono."  The girls blinked, and then their eyes widened.  "Kaoru-dono, these two are Aya-dono and Suzumi-dono, as you probably noted.  They are twins, and they and their mother are very dear friends of this one."

 

"She's real!  She's come!" Aya suddenly cried, and her sister shrieked in delight, "Kaoru-baachan!"

 

" _Excuse_ me?!" Kaoru gasped, but then she was being enthusiastically hugged.  "I...wait...!"

 

"Girls," Kenshin said warningly, and they reluctantly let go.

 

"Is it really her, Ken-jiichan?!"

 

"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," he said seriously, "please be kind to Kaoru-dono, and do not say anything she might find, er, insulting."

 

"Eh?" Suzumi said in puzzlement, cocking her head like a puppy, but her sister nodded and turned to Kaoru.  "I'm sorry, Kaoru-neechan.  We didn't mean to be rude, really!"

 

"It's okay," Kaoru mumbled.  "Why do you call him 'jiichan,' anyway?" she asked, gesturing at Kenshin.  "He's not _that_ old."

 

The girls burst into giggles.

 

"Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono," Kenshin said hurriedly, "why don't you run along now and say hi to the others?  This one would like to see Kaoru-dono off."

 

"All right," they agreed, and hugged him again.  "See you later, Jiichan!"  They ran off again, half-backwards as they tried to wave, and he waved back until they were out of sight.

 

"They really are good girls," he told Kaoru, a little anxiously.

 

"I know," she agreed readily enough, "I can tell."  _'Very nice, but still weird.'_   "You don't have to walk me out or anything, I'm sure you've got a lot to do."

 

"It's no trouble," he assured her.  "It was an honor to have you here, and you are welcome back at any time, free of charge.  Perhaps you can bring your family next time."  He offered her his arm, and Kaoru hesitantly took it.

 

"Thanks.  Yeah, Mom and Dad would probably like it, I'll tell them.  You're very generous."

 

"No trouble at all," he said again, and smiled.  "It's a pleasure."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Kaoru is adopted, I never got the chance to mention that.

 

"Jiichan" and "Baachan" are cute, informal ways of saying "Grandpa" and "Grandma."  Aya & Suzumi are not Ayame & Suzume, but I tried to make their personalities as close as possible.  Unfortunately, they just ended up like slightly more intelligent handmaids. :/

 

Gah, seems like creepy pedoness is just kind of inherently buried in the plot, no matter how much I try to edit it out. -.-  Sorry, guys.  I was younger when I wrote this.... :/

 

**I realized belatedly that some of the subconscious inspiration for _Immortality_ was probably Diana Wynne Jones's book _The Crown of Dalemark_.**

 

Since I never got a chance to explain, what happened is that Tomoe's elixir de-ages the people who drink it.  Kaoru accidentally drank too much and ended up as a baby.  My notes are confusing, but I think Kenshin took her with him to the future and made sure she was safely adopted by the Arais.


	41. Chapter 41

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 2**

 

On Monday morning, Kaoru woke up too late to accompany her friends to school, but luckily, she managed to at least catch the bus on time.  This meant that she had a minute to pause and look at Himura Castle instead of tearing frantically past it.

 

Her eyes traveled slowly over the well-known contours, every turret and window familiar.  Perhaps because she was staring so hard, her eyes suddenly seemed to go funny - for a split second, she thought she saw something.  She was not sure what it was - some kind of outline around the castle, a shimmer in the air that seemed to arch over the structure like a bubble.  She got an impression of brick, chain link; of fire, of rose petals.  Yet it was so quick, she blinked and it was as if there was nothing there.  _'Huh.  Weird.'_   She rubbed her eyes, but the strange air distortion did not appear again.  Kaoru shrugged and continued on to school.

 

Later that afternoon, as she and her friends were on their way back, their interest was piqued by some sort of commotion around the castle.  A truck was parked half on the sidewalk, blocking both ambulatory traffic and one of the lanes on the street.  Cars were irritably edging around, and pedestrians were unhappily forced to squeeze past men unloading crates.

 

"What is going _on_ here?" one of Kaoru's friends, Mika, exclaimed in amazement.  "Are they crazy, blocking everything up like this?"

 

A fussy-looking man in a fancy uniform was yelling at one of the people carrying boxes back and forth.  "...highly irregular!  Unprofessional in the extreme!  Mr. O'Neill will have your head for this, Kiyosato!"

 

"Will he?"  The man he had been haranguing paused, glancing over his shoulder in mild annoyance.  "I doubt it, since it's not _my_ fault they've locked the delivery lanes.  Believe me, Kenshin's _not_ going to want this stuff lying around."

 

Kaoru liked Kiyosato's face, which seemed almost boyishly sweet, and strangely self-assured for a common laborer being yelled at.  Even so, she was not sure what sort of impulse sent her right up to him to ask politely, "Excuse me, sir, but did you need any help?"

 

She got stared at for her trouble, by her friends as well as the yelling man and Kiyosato.  The yelling man simply looked annoyed that a bystander had gotten involved in his affairs, but Kiyosato's eyes were widening in a way that was getting entirely too familiar.  "H...Hi," he stammered softly, looking as if he'd seen a ghost.

 

Kaoru held out her arms pointedly.  "Would you like me to take that for you?"

 

"Uh...."  He glanced around, finally realizing that she was offering to help.  "Well, uh, I've got this one, but you might, uh...that is, if you don't mind...."

 

Kaoru went over to the truck he was staring at (in between staring at her), and picked up one of the boxes.  It was heavy, but not unmanageable.  Kiyosato was still staring at her when she came back.  "Where do we put these?" she prompted.

 

"Oh!  Right."  He seemed to be regaining his composure.  "We're just putting them in the foyer.  Sanosuke's got people taking it from there."

 

"I'm Arai Kaoru, by the way," she offered testingly.

 

He frowned.  "Arai?  ...Oh, right."  He finally smiled, a very sweet smile that made Kaoru melt a little.  "I'm Kiyosato Akira.  It's good to meet you, uh, Arai-san."

 

It was all hustle and bustle inside, with museum patrons staring as they edged around the people working to transport Kiyosato's boxes elsewhere.  Sagara moved in the midst of it all, looking a little amused as he gave instructions.  His face lit up when he turned to see Kaoru.  "Oi, Jouchan!  What's up?"

 

"She's helping me bring boxes in," Kiyosato told him, sounding like an excited puppy.

 

" _Is_ she."  Sagara gave her a slow, lazy smile.  "Good to see you back, Jouchan."

 

At that moment, Mr. O'Neill (or Kenshin, whatever) came hurrying into the foyer, looking almost windblown in his rush.  "Akira!  This one is so sorry, the key was finally found and they've gone around to open the gates--"  He came to a dead halt when he saw Kaoru.

 

"Hi," she said, shifting uneasily from foot to foot.

 

"Ah...hello."

 

After a moment, Sagara leaned over and elbowed him in the ribs.  "Take the box, o paragon of courtesy."

 

Kenshin flushed a cute shade of pink and stumbled forward.  "Ah...apologies...allow this one to...ah...."  In order for him to take the box out of her arms, their skin had to touch.  Kaoru found herself staring at him during the awkward transfer, wondering why she was enjoying this.

 

"Uh...you got it?" she finally said.  "I wanna make sure you don't drop it or anything."

 

"...Hm...?  Oh!  Yes, I've got it, that I do.  Thank you, Kaoru-dono."  Then he stood for another moment or so, clutching the box and grinning stupidly at her.  Sagara rolled his eyes and actually grasped his boss's shoulders to propel him away.  Kenshin handed the box off to someone else and came back, looking a little sheepish.  "Er...sorry you had to get involved, Kaoru-dono."

 

"It's no trouble," she assured him.  "Um...well, I'd better get going...."

 

"Perhaps you'd like to invite her to take some refreshment, Kenshin-kun."  Both Kenshin and Kaoru jumped as a woman seemed to materialize beside them.  Kaoru was startled at the woman's beauty, her pale face and floating garments almost ethereal in the midst of these working men.

 

"Tomoe-dono," Kenshin fumbled.  "Ah...right.  Kaoru-dono, would you and your friends like something to eat or drink before you go?  We really appreciate the help."

 

And so Kaoru found herself and her friends sitting in an employee lounge with Kenshin, the mysterious 'Tomoe-dono,' Sagara, and Kiyosato, eating cookies and drinking juice.  People on break kept coming in and out, stopping to chat with Kenshin or tease Sagara or nod respectfully to Tomoe before heading out again.

 

"I hope we're not holding you back from your work," Kaoru apologized.

 

"Don't worry about it," Kenshin assured her, "we have time."

 

"Especially the lady here," Sagara said in a teasing voice, indicating Tomoe.  "Seeing as how she gets paid to just sit around and watch for danger."

 

Mimi laughed.  "So she's like a security system."

 

Kaoru noticed that Kenshin and Akira had odd looks on their faces, though Tomoe remained as unperturbed as ever.

 

"Pretty much, yeah," Sagara chuckled.  "Oh, and the cooking!  She cooks, too.  Oi, Kiyosato, when are you gonna invite me over for dinner again?"

 

" _Invite_ you?" the man said in disbelief.  "Since when have we ever _invited_ your freeloading butt?"

 

"Of course you're always welcome, Sagara-san, freeloading or no," Tomoe murmured, smiling a little.

 

"This one _does_ pay you enough to afford food these days, Sano," Kenshin pointed out.

 

"What?  Just food?" Mika spoke up indignantly.  "People use money for other stuff too, you know!"

 

"Yeah, really!" Sagara agreed, laughing.  "Like a new zanbatô.  That'd be nice.  Give me one next Christmas, all right, Kenshin?"

 

Kenshin rolled his eyes.  "As if you need it."

 

"What's a zanbatô?" Mimi wanted to know.

 

"Huge sword," Sagara said gleefully, "Way fun.  You can use 'em to unseat a rider from his horse in one swing!"

 

"A _horse_?" Mika said.  "Swords?  What is this, the dark ages?"

 

"Oh, I get it," Mimi teased.  "You all play RPGs at Himura Castle, props and all, right?"

 

Tomoe simply ate another cookie and Sagara carried on with the girls as if it was all a big joke, but Kaoru noted that Kenshin and Akira looked distinctly uncomfortable.  It didn't surprise her when Kenshin broke in to change the subject.  "You've been quiet, Kaoru-dono.  Is something wrong?"

 

Kaoru grinned.  "Nah, I was just thinking wistfully that it'd be nice to join in on one of your RPG sessions."

 

Sagara burst into laughter, and Kenshin actually looked wounded.  "They're just joking...we don't play RPGs."

 

"There's the re-enactments," Tomoe offered.  Both Kenshin and Akira shot her incredulous looks.

 

"Re-enactments?" Kaoru prompted.

 

"Like _The Victory of the Seelie Court_ ," Tomoe explained.  "You saw the paintings when Kenshin-kun took you through last time, right, Arai-san?"

 

"Yeah.  So you...?"

 

"Re-enact scenes like that for tourists.  I like to film them - some of the better performances are on sale in the gift shop."  She smiled.  "Would you like to come see one, Arai-san?  The next one is this Friday evening.  Bring your family, it's free."  She nodded at Mimi and Mika.  "Your friends are welcome too, of course."

 

"Tomoe-dono...the re-enactments?" Kenshin pleaded, looking pained.  "That might not be a good...ah...."  He trailed off.

 

"What's the Seelie Court?" Mika wanted to know.

 

"The court of the good fairies."

 

" _Fairies_?  What do _fairies_ have to do with historical re-enactments?" she said with a frown.

 

Sagara chuckled.  "They're not exactly _historical_ re-enactments...."

 

"So they're fiction," Mika pushed.  "Like fantasy plays or something."

 

Sagara shrugged.  "Sure."

 

"But that doesn't make any sense!"

 

"The tourists like it."

 

Mika grinned.  "All right, then.  Friday night, Mimi-chan and Kaoru-chan and I will come watch your fairy play."

 

Kenshin closed his eyes, and Kaoru noted that he looked distinctly apprehensive.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

_"...abuzz with the news that 'Hitokiri Battousai' has struck again, though it's unclear whether the damage was actually caused by Battousai or by an unknown group...."_

 

"Battousai, Battousai," Kaoru mumbled into her pillow.  "Shut up about Battousai already."  For all the bad reputation of the mysterious 'hitokiri,' Kaoru had never heard of him actually killing anyone, or at least not with his distinctive attack style.  It didn't make sense for someone to use a reverse-bladed sword to fight, but then kill people by other methods; a sakabatô could always be turned over, after all.  There were constant arguments over which deeds were actually done by Battousai and which had merely been attributed to an infamous name.

 

Why the heck was she thinking about Battousai this early in the morning?

 

Why the heck was the radio on?

 

Kaoru groggily lifted her head and saw that somehow, she had set her clock to play the radio instead of the alarm, which meant that it had taken twenty minutes for the much less jarring noise to wake her up.  "WHY AM I ALWAYS, ALWAYS LATE THESE DAYS?!?!?!"

 

She wasn't the only one.  As Kaoru rushed through the school gates and hurried up to the school, she saw a familiar figure loping up the steps before her, nonchalant even though the bell had rung ten minutes ago.  Kaoru slowed, her breath coming fast, wondering whether or not she should call out to him.

 

The decision was made for her when Ishida Yamato caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye as he opened the door.  "Yo, Arai.  You late, too?"

 

"Yeah," she said breathlessly, her heart fluttering.  She had had a crush on this boy since sophomore year.  "You, uh...you, uh...yeah, I'm late, too."  Heaven help her, she was never going to get a boyfriend.  At least she wasn't crying all over his shirt, like she had with a _certain other_ handsome male.

 

"Well, see you around," Yamato said with a shrug, heading off to get a tardy slip.  Kaoru knocked herself hard on the head before following.

 

When she got home that day, her mother rushed to great her with a huge smile.  "Kaoru-chan!  How long were you planning to keep this little secret from us?"

 

Kaoru stared at her, confused, wondering if she was talking about her crush on Yamato.  "Huh?"

 

Mrs. Arai proudly brandished a typed letter at her daughter.  "The Himura scholarship!  You got it!"

 

"Oh.  Oh, right."  Himura?  The Castle, Kenshin, weird people who already knew her....

 

"The acceptance letter has been sitting on your desk all this time.  Why didn't you tell us, sweetie?  This is wonderful news!  We might not even have to pay a dime for your college education!"

 

"Well, I--  Wait, what?"  Kaoru snatched the letter from her mother's hand and scanned it in disbelief.  When she had been applying for scholarships, she had been sure that the Himura one covered tuition, housing, and books for the first year of school, as long as she was signed up full-time.  The letter, though, claimed that she had a full four years' free ride to any institution she wanted.  _'A mistake.  Something's not right.  I have to talk to Kenshin.'_   Kaoru found herself staring at his messy signature at the bottom, scrawled directly on the paper next to the imprint of his hanko.

 

"We ought to go out to celebrate, perhaps dinner at that restaurant downtown you like so much...."

 

Speaking of Himura, "By the way, Mom, I've actually talked to Ken--  To Mr. O'Neill, and he sounds like he wants to meet you and Dad.  He keeps inviting us to things."

 

Her mother blinked.  "Inviting us?  Mr. O'Neill?  Surely not _the_ Mr. O'Neill...?"

 

"Yes, Mom," Kaoru said firmly, " _the_ Mr. O'Neill.  He's kind of weird but really nice at the same time, and he...."  She sighed.  "I have to talk to him.  There's got to be a mistake."

 

Mrs. Arai frowned.  "A mistake?  What do you mean?"

 

"I mean the scholarship, Mom.  It was just supposed to be for the first year."

 

"Are you sure, honey?  You applied for so many, maybe you got them mixed up--"

 

"No."  Kaoru was shaking her head.  "I need to talk to him."  Something was up about all this, and she had the feeling it was about more than just scholarships.  "They're having some sort of re-enactment on Friday night.  Can we go, Mom?"  Maybe Kaoru would be able to find a chance to catch Kenshin alone.

 

"Friday night?" her mother was saying doubtfully.  "That was the same evening as your father's business dinner...."

 

"Oh, no," Kaoru gasped.  "Don't tell me I have to baby-sit!"

 

"Oh, sweetheart," Mrs. Arai said pleadingly.  "It's just for a few hours.  You can put Iori to bed early and have the house to yourself.  Please, dear?  It's just the one night."

 

Kaoru sighed.  "Fine."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Kaoru-chan!  You made it on time today!"

 

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Kaoru mumbled in embarrassment.  For a few minutes, she had to endure some good-natured teasing from her friends as they waited for the bus, but soon enough they had moved on to other subjects.  Unfortunately, they were not subjects that made Kaoru feel any more comfortable.

 

"Look what we made for you, Kaoru-chan!"

 

"What is--" she started, then her mouth dropped open as she saw what Mimi was gleefully holding out to her as the other two giggled.  "Is that a _love note_?!"

 

"Don't worry, Mimi-chan's a good writer, she made you sound wonderful," Mika said with a wink.

 

"I am NOT giving that to Ishida-kun, are you crazy?!" Kaoru cried in horror, her cheeks burning.

 

"You _have_ to, Kaoru-chan!" they started, but just then, the bus pulled up.  It didn't stop them from bugging her about it all the way to their stop, no matter how hard Kaoru tried to distract them with apprehensions about the next math test or the latest news headlines about Battousai.

 

"Do you know how many love notes he probably gets?  He'll think I'm just another idiot like the rest!" she was crying in exasperation as they clattered down the steps, then suddenly paused.

 

"Kaoru-chan?"

 

"Huh?" she murmured.  Himura Castle....  She found herself glaring at the stone walls.  _'You have secrets, don't you,'_ she thought at it.  _'What's the big deal?  Why are you suddenly becoming so important in my life?'_

 

"Kaoru-chan, we're going to be late!"

 

"All right," she said finally, turning to follow her friends down the street.

 

The sound of a motorcycle soon approached.  The girls stopped talking and winced at the sound, but only Kaoru, reacting to some instinct, actually looked over at the street and saw the man when he pulled up right next to them.  "Jouchan!"

 

"Officer Sagara," Kaoru said with a helpless smile.

 

Sagara grinned, his uniform shirt still unbuttoned as if he had intended to finish dressing when he got to work.  He leaned back and fixed her with a gaze of pleased laziness.  "Off to school?"

 

"Yes," she said, a little defensively.

 

He laughed to himself.  "Oh man, that's hilarious...."  Then he cleared his throat.  "Anyway, you gonna stop by on the way home?"

 

Her friends were giggling as they watched.  Kaoru shrugged.  "Maybe.  I do need to talk to Kenshin, but I might not have time today."

 

"You coming Friday night?"

 

Kaoru blew out a guilty breath.  "Well...actually, I don't think I'll be able to make it."

 

"What?" her friends yelped.  "You're not coming, Kaoru-chan?!"

 

Sagara's expression had sobered.  "Something wrong?"

 

"No," she said hurriedly.  "It's just that my parents already had plans, and I need to baby-sit."  For some reason, she heard herself quickly adding, "I'll come to the next one."

 

To her relief, he smiled again.  "I'll hold you to that, Jouchan."

 

"And this is sooo important because...?" she teased, though she was also truly curious.

 

Sagara studied her thoughtfully.  "Kenshin's real impressed with you, you know."  The grin began to steal back.  "Come on, you wanna keep the man happy, right?  He's giving you a full four years' free ride, after all."

 

Kaoru blinked, and swallowed.  "About that...I thought it was just the first year.  Not all four."

 

"Was it?"  Sagara adopted a careless look, but Kaoru couldn't help feeling that he was using the expression as a cover.  "Ah, I don't keep track of that stuff.  I just know that if you stay on Kenshin's good side, you'll have a heck of an easy time with--" he paused again, looking unaccountably amused, "--school.  Princess Kaoru, trotting off to high school, hahaha...."

 

" _What_ did you call her?" Mimi asked interestedly.

 

"Nothing."  He leaned forward again, resting his arms on the handlebars and smiling at Kaoru in narrow-eyed challenge.  "Just a bit of advice, Jouchan.  About Kenshin...make it worth his time."  He straightened up again before she could think of an answer.  "See you around!"  With that, he waved cheerily and revved off.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The acceptance letter had Kenshin's phone number at the bottom.  After Kaoru put Iori to bed on Friday night, the thought of what she was missing reminded her of the whole Himura Castle weirdness and the scholarship mess.  She called the number to leave a message for Kenshin, intending to clarify things with him (or his secretary, more likely) the next business day or whatever.  She was startled when the phone rang five minutes later.

 

"Hello?"

 

_"Kaoru-dono?"_

 

Her mouth dropped open.  " _Kenshin_?!" she exclaimed.

 

 _"Hello."_   He sounded apprehensive.  _"This one hopes he is not calling too late."_

 

"Uh...well, no...I mean, I just called," she pointed out.

 

_"Right.  Of course."_

 

Kaoru had to repress a sudden urge to giggle.  He sounded almost like a nervous schoolboy calling up a girl he had a crush on.  "Um...so, did you get my message?"

 

 _"Ah - no.  It probably would have been a good idea to listen to message before calling back, that it would...."_   The sheepish note in his voice made him sound so _cute_.

 

 _'Get a grip, Kaoru,'_ she growled silently at herself.  _'He's an adult!  Stop acting like he's Ishida-kun or something!'_   "No, it's all right," she said out loud.  "I've been meaning to ask you--  Oh!  But aren't you doing the re-enactment or something now?"

 

_"It can wait."_

 

Kaoru's mouth dropped open.  There was absolutely no hesitation at all, as if she really was the center of his attention.  It would have been more creepy if he wasn't so shy about it.  All the same, "No," she said firmly.  "You should concentrate on your work, Mr. O'Neill.  I'm just some upstart schoolgirl who can definitely wait 'til Monday."

 

There was a long silence.  _"As you wish,"_ he finally said, sounding cowed.  _"Kaoru-dono...."_   Another long pause.  _"Good night."_

 

She was pretty sure that that was not at all what he had been going to say, but she was glad that he had decided to respect her wishes.  "Good night."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  A hanko is a kind of stamp that they use in Japan to sign documents and stuff.  Writing your name as well would be redundant, but it was a slightly intimate touch I wanted to slip in.


	42. Chapter 42

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 3 - The Last Himura**

 

Because Kaoru was so busy with school activities, she and Kenshin played phone tag for the next week until he finally got hold of her late Tuesday afternoon to clarify that _no_ , there was _no_ mistake and she was to concentrate on her college studies without a single worry over money, and when was he going to get to meet the honored parents of this star student?

 

"Did you send those free tickets in the mail?" she suddenly realized.  "Like, did you, personally, put them in an envelope and print out our address and put the stamp on?"

 

There was a pause, but when his voice came, it was perfectly smooth, even teasing.  _"Well, seeing as how this one might never get to meet the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Arai without resorting to ever more drastic measures...."_

 

"I'll bring them, I promise," she said, laughing.  All the same, she felt a little uneasy.  "Am I the only scholarship winner?" she asked abruptly.

 

_"Sort of.  You're the only one in need of the money at this time, but we do have our eye on several other promising students as well, that we do.  You remember Aya-dono and Suzumi-dono?"_

 

"Oh!"  Kaoru abruptly felt better.  "Those girls."  If he was apparently such close friends with their family, it made a little more sense that he would be so interested in both Kaoru and her parents.  "They're in on this, too?"

 

She was surprised at the note of unease in his laugh.  _"'In on this'...you could say that, yes.  We've known them for years now, that we have.  You do realize, Kaoru-dono, that we expect the winners of this scholarship to display an interest - heh, feigned or no - in the affairs of the Castle.  For example, later on, there might be opportunities for internships or the like."_

 

"Oooohh," Kaoru realized.  So they were taking into account the possibility of future employees as well.  Kaoru was pretty sure that she did not want her life's career to be museum-related, but it would definitely be a good resume-builder.  Besides, it wasn't like she had no personal interest in the Castle; she knew it was a fascinating place in its own right.  "Right, I see.  Don't worry, I'm not trying to skive off or anything.  I'll be there," she promised.

 

 _"Thank you, Kaoru-dono,"_ he said warmly.  _"And good luck in all your endeavors."_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Mr. Arai had the afternoon off from work on Thursday, so that was the day that the family set out on their little excursion to Himura Castle with tickets in hand.  Kaoru's parents seemed excited and a little nervous at meeting one of the richest men in the city face-to-face, but Iori of course was as unperturbed as usual.  "Piggy," he laughed, pointing as they approached the castle.

 

Kaoru looked up at the gargoyles and smiled.  "Dragons, too," she pointed out.  "And lions and sharks.  They protect the castle from evil, Iori."  She made a scary face and curled her hands like claws, making him laugh.

 

"From the horrors of undrained water, too," her father added with a chuckle.  "Extraordinary piece of architecture, this place.  I'm glad to have a chance to see it again."

 

"When was the last time you came here, Daddy?" Kaoru asked curiously.

 

"Oh!"  Mr. Arai looked at the sky and laughed.  "When was it, dear?" he asked his wife.

 

"Years ago," said, smiling fondly.  "Before Iori was born, when Kaoru was at school.  It hasn't changed much, I'll give it that!"

 

There were a few people in the foyer, one or two waiting to pay admission and others in the distance passing between corridors.  The huge space seemed to lay an echoing hush over all sounds, muting them comfortably.

 

Kaoru was afraid that the receptionist might notice her with the same shocked recognition of all the other Himura Castle employees she had met up until now, but the lady merely offered the same smile she gave to all guests of the museum.  "Welcome to Himura Castle!  Would you like to join a tour, or will you be viewing at your leisure?"

 

Kaoru's parents both looked at her.  "Uh--  at our leisure," she fumbled randomly, not expecting to be the decision-maker.

 

Her father handed over the tickets.  The receptionist frowned as she looked at them, inspecting them closely.  Then she dubiously scanned them and glanced at her computer - and her face changed.  "Oh - just a moment, please," she said, sounding flustered.  She picked up the phone to make a call, and from her end of the conversation, it sounded like she was unsuccessfully trying to get hold of Kenshin.  "I'm so sorry," she finally apologized, "but if you wait just a few more moments, someone will come down to sort this out...."

 

"What's wrong?" Mr. Arai asked in confusion.

 

"Well...ah, it appears that you are personal guests of Mr. O'Neill himself, but he was recently called away on a short-notice appointment - he was just about to set out, in fact."

 

"Oh, please don't have him trouble himself on our account," Mrs. Arai said in alarm.  "I'm sure the man has more important things to do.  We can fend for ourselves, can't we, dear?"

 

"Of course," Mr. Arai put in.  "I didn't even realize that, ah, that these tickets were special or anything."

 

"Please, just wait right here, someone should be along in just a moment," the woman pleaded.

 

"Excuse me, but could I just run to the restroom real quick?" Kaoru asked.

 

"Oh...yes, of course.  It's just down that hall there, you can follow the signs."

 

"I think I'd better go with you, Kaoru-chan," Mrs. Arai chuckled.  "Iori needs seeing to...."

 

Kaoru wrinkled her nose good-naturedly as she caught a whiff from her happily gurgling little brother.  She waved at her father as they set off for the restrooms, where Kaoru finished her business quickly and then waited around in the hallway for her mother to get Iori cleaned up.

 

Bored, her attention wandered and eventually fixed on a woman in a maid's uniform, singing softly as she cleaned the tall windows.  The woman worked slowly but steadily, patiently spraying glass cleaner and wiping it off in neat rows.  Her movements were so graceful and rhythmic that Kaoru blinked in surprise when she realized that she had been watching as if spellbound for several minutes.

 

Then she registered what had distracted her - a man with spiky hair like Officer Sagara's was creeping up on the woman.  Kaoru was just opening her mouth instinctively to call out when the man pounced, seizing the woman's right hip with one hand and her left shoulder with the other, pulling her backwards so he could hold her close to him and cover her mouth with a sideways kiss.  She did not even have time to shriek, though her eyes widened considerably and her cleaning supplies went bouncing to the ground.  She struggled and lifted her head, gasping, "Y-Yahiko!  Not here!"

 

"Why?" he complained.  "No one's watching."

 

Kaoru relaxed, realizing that the two knew each other, but at the sound of her released breath, both of them looked up at her.  Color flooded Kaoru's face and she stepped back, but then halted when she heard the astonishing words that tumbled from the woman's shocked lips.  "Your Majesty!"  The woman clamped her hands over her mouth, though both she and the man continued to stare at her with expressions of shocked recognition that Kaoru was getting _way_ too used to.

 

"You have _baggy socks_!" the man cried accusingly.

 

"S-So?" Kaoru shot back automatically, her mind whirling.

 

Then the woman gasped.  "Yahiko!  Please give me your radio."

 

"Why?" he said in confusion, even as he pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt and handed it over.

 

Obviously in too much of a hurry to answer, the woman clicked it on and said urgently into it, "Michiko-san, please wait!  Don't leave yet!  K-Kaoru-san is here!"

_"Kaoru-chan?"_ a woman's staticky voice came bursting from the device.  _"Oh, yay, you found her!  Hurry and bring her, Tsubame-chan!  Ken-chan will be so happy!"_

 

At least, that's what it sounded like; it was difficult to hear through all the static.  Kaoru couldn't quite bring herself to believe that total strangers would be talking like that about her.

 

The man, Yahiko, was snorting as if the whole thing was ridiculous, but he was also grinning as he glanced appreciatively at Kaoru.  "Kenshin was just about to leave - you've got good timing."

 

"Sorry," Kaoru said, "but I... _really_ have no idea what's going on."

 

She blinked in surprise when the maid, Tsubame, curtsied prettily.  "Kaoru-san, I am so glad to see you," she said, so warmly that Kaoru didn't have the heart to be irritated at the continued weirdness of Himura Castle employees.  "It is truly an honor."

 

"Ah, knock it off, Tsubame, you're freaking her out," Yahiko told her, though he was also grinning.  "Come on, Kaoru.  Let's not keep 'Ken-chan' waiting any longer than we have to."

 

" _Excuse_ me?" Kaoru huffed.  "For your information, _Yahiko_ , my family name is Arai, so you can call me _that_ if you don't mind."

 

"Nah, I think I do mind," he laughed.  "Kaoru it is.  Unless you like 'Busu' better."

 

Speechless with rage at his rudeness, the only thing that kept Kaoru from walloping a total stranger was the fact that his girlfriend/wife was begging, "Yahiko, please be nice to Kaoru-san, she doesn't know you very well...."

_'I don't know either of you at_ all _,'_ Kaoru grumbled in her head, but kept it silent for Tsubame's sake.  She seemed nice, even if her boyfriend/husband/whatever was one of the rudest people she had ever met.

 

Mrs. Arai came out then, and after some restlessly polite introductions and some obligatory cooing over Iori by Tsubame, she and Yahiko led the Arais back to the grounds behind the castle, to some sort of huge garage that looked like it had once been a fancy stable.  A car was sitting on the driveway just outside the doors; a woman in uniform was perched on the hood, and Kenshin waited beside one of the open doors, leaning casually against the car as he chatted with Mr. Arai.

 

Mr. Arai waved enthusiastically when he saw his family approach, and Kenshin smiled.  He opened his mouth as if to speak, but before he could, the lady on the hood grinned and leaned to whisper something in his ear.

 

Kaoru couldn't hear a word, but whatever it was made Kenshin's face turn scarlet.  "Michiko-dono!" he gasped, but she was already getting into the driver's seat, laughing.  "Ah...er...."  Obviously flustered, Kenshin ran a hand through his hair and tried to smile at Kaoru.  "Apologies, Kaoru-dono.  It's good to see you."

 

"Hi.  This is my mom, by the way.  Looks like you've already met Dad."

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kenshin said with warm courtesy, actually kissing her mother's hand, which prompted a startled laugh from Mrs. Arai.

 

There was not time for anything more, because as soon as Iori was close enough, he reached out his chubby fingers to grab two fistfuls of red hair and announce delightedly, "Akai!"

 

"...Hai, akai de-gozaru," Kenshin agreed, seeming totally unperturbed.

 

"Iori!" Mrs. Arai gasped, struggling to untangle Kenshin's hair from her son's insistent grip.  "Mr. O'Neill, I am so sorry," she began apologizing, but he told her with perfect cheerfulness not to worry about it.

 

"Kushuru!" Iori then insisted, still holding out his arms to the redhead.

 

Kenshin blinked at him.  "Kushu...?"

 

"He means--" Kaoru and her mother started to explain at the same time, but then Kenshin smiled.

 

"Ah!  I see."  He reached out to shake hands with the satisfied Iori.  Kaoru had to admit that she was impressed with Kenshin for figuring it out so quickly on his own, and she could see from her mother's face that she was equally impressed.

 

"Hey," Kaoru said, a little nervously, "I'm really sorry for messing up your plans and all--"

 

"Don't worry about it, please," Kenshin said quickly.  "It was poor scheduling on this one's part, that it was.  Your father has agreed to postpone the tour of the castle.  Are there...any objections?"

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Well, no.  Um...are you...?"

 

"Honey, Kaoru, we're going to see _Himura Natsue_!" Mr. Arai told his wife and daughter.  "Mr. O'Neill has invited us along!"

 

Kaoru's mouth dropped open.  " _Himura_?  As in, the Himuras who own - used to own - this castle?"

 

"Yes."  Kenshin smiled.  "This one's relationship with the family is not entirely a business one."

 

"You're...letting us intrude on something like that?" Kaoru said awkwardly.  The Himuras may not have been the richest family in the city, but they were definitely among the most influential.  Putting them together with Ken O'Neill was a bit much.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Yahiko and Tsubame, and when she turned to look at them, she was surprised at their expressions.  Yahiko's arms were folded and he was staring at her hard, frowning a little as if she was on the verge of disappointing him.  Tsubame had her hands pressed together, looking very tense.  "What?" she said.

 

Tsubame gasped and stammered something apologetic, but Yahiko merely shook his head.  "The Himuras," he said meaningfully, though she couldn't think what kind of message he was trying to convey.  "They're a real important family, and you've got a golden opportunity to meet them.  You really, really don't want to pass this up."

 

Kaoru frowned a little, and Kenshin said quickly, "Really, it's no trouble at all.  You don't have to come if you don't want to."

 

"Ken-chan," the Michiko woman in the car protested, but was silenced by the look he gave her.  Kaoru stared - she had not seen him look so stern before.

 

Yahiko sighed.  "Whatever.  Come on, Tsubame, I'll help you finish the windows."

 

"Thank you," came her soft voice, though Kaoru was sure they were still watching her.  As their footsteps retreated, Kaoru looked at Kenshin and shrugged.  "If Mom and Dad don't have a problem with it, I'm in."

 

He beamed.  "Excellent.  Now, this one is very pleased to have met you all, but unfortunately, we are quite late.  Please?"  He held out the car door invitingly for the Arai family to get in, then slipped in himself.

 

"This is _roomy_ ," Kaoru said admiringly as Michiko started the car.  "Do you always drive everywhere in this?"

 

"Sometimes.  Sometimes other vehicles are used," he said.

 

"Cold," Iori complained, pushing at an air conditioning vent, and Kenshin hurried to remedy the situation.

 

The trip was an interesting one, with Kenshin and Mr. Arai getting caught up in an enthusiastic conversation about traditional swords, and Kaoru and her mother gazing happily out the window at the beautiful neighborhoods they were passing through.  The houses all seemed so old and grand, most of them wonderfully kept up.  "Such an opportunity," Mrs. Arai murmured in Kaoru's ear.  "You really were lucky to catch Mr. O'Neill's eye, Kaoru-chan."

 

"Yeah," Kaoru murmured, wondering suddenly what her mother would have thought of Kenshin watching her sleep at the castle.  She looked at Kenshin's profile, eyes alight with whatever he and her father were talking about, the way his throat moved when he spoke, the gentle set of his mouth....  Then, suddenly aware of her gaze, he glanced at her and smiled so warmly that Kaoru felt her cheeks heating.  The pure love that shone in his face at that moment was very flattering, and disconcerting, but above all, puzzling.

 

 _'Do I...know him?'_ Kaoru wondered.  She found herself rewinding her memory, trying to think if she had ever met Ken O'Neill before.  Of course she hadn't, there was no way; not even a guest appearance at school or anything.  _'Have I ever seen Kenshin before?'_   Put a different way, using his 'nickname,' Kaoru suddenly froze.  She couldn't, in her mind's eye, imagine meeting a redhead like him before, but...Kenshin...Kenshin...why was that name so familiar?  Why did she get so emotional at the thought of that name?

 

"Ah, we're here."

 

Kaoru was startled to be drawn out of her thoughts.  She peered out the window again to find them parked in front of a huge old house, and she kept craning her head to look at it in awe even as she was getting out of the car.  She finally looked down to realize that Kenshin had held the door open for her again.  "Oh - thank you," she said awkwardly.  Shouldn't that be the driver's job?

 

"My pleasure," he assured her.  Kaoru smiled and took the arm he offered her before realizing she had done so.

 

The door was answered by a maid, whose eyes fell on Kaoru and paused.

_'Oh no - not_ again _!  What is_ with _these people?!'_

 

"Maya-dono," Kenshin said meaningfully after a moment.  "These are the guests Michiko-dono called about, the Arai family."

 

A smile spread slowly over the maid's face, and Kaoru was exasperated to see that her eyes were still fixed only on her.  "Lovely.  I'll tell Lady Himura that you've arrived.  Please come in."

 

The only thing that prevented Kaoru from gawking at the amazing richness of the house was the fact that her parents were doing it (Iori seemed more interested in making faces at himself in the mirrors they passed).  She felt slightly embarrassed as she watched them, thinking that they looked like tourists.  Darting a glance at Kenshin, she found him eyeing her and her family with a smile.  "Do you like it, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"It's beautiful...but I think Himura Castle is nicer."  That made him laugh for some reason.

 

Himura Natsue was waiting for them, with a boy at her side, in a large, elegantly furnished room with well-placed sofas and full-length windows that let the sunlight pour in.  Her smile was very large but very stiff.  "Mr. O'Neill," she greeted with frosty graciousness.  "How good to see you again, especially on such _short notice_.  It has been too long."

 

"Has it?" Kenshin said with courteous amusement, going over to kiss her hand.  "Forgive our lateness, Natsue-dono, but this one knew you would regret not being able to meet such honored guests."

 

The look on Natsue's face was almost funny in its conflict, as she seemed half-mollified by the honorific, annoyed that he had used her given name, and puzzled about how such ordinary-looking, uninvited guests could be so important.  (Well, Kaoru wanted to know the answer to that, too.)  Kenshin made graceful introductions, which did little to soothe the curiosity of either.

 

"I am pleased to meet you," Natsue said, in a manner that left her sincerity in doubt.  "This is my son, Kensuke."  She turned to the sullen-looking boy at her side, who had fixed his eyes on the floor and was tugging uncomfortably at his collar.  "Kensuke!" she barked.  "Straighten up, we have guests!  Show proper respect to Mr. O'Neill!"

 

"Yo," the boy muttered.

 

"Kensuke!" his mother cried, mortified and outraged.

 

"Hello, Kensuke," Kenshin said, his eyes sparkling.  "We came all this way so that Kaoru-dono could meet you."  He said it as if it was a joke, and Kaoru's parents and Natsue evidently took it as such, but Kaoru noticed the way that the boy lifted his face to look at her, his eyes narrow and appraising.  Kensuke said nothing, but nodded.

 

A few pleasantries later found the Arais seated and eating snacks in a rather forbidding drawing room.  Natsue and Kenshin had disappeared for whatever meeting she had needed him for so urgently, leaving Kensuke to play host.

 

He was a terrible one.  He spent the entire time slumped on the couch across from them, scowling at the floor and speaking only to make terse replies to Mrs. Arai's attempts at conversation.  She finally gave up, and they all fell silent.  Luckily, it was not long before Natsue and Kenshin returned, she tucking something away into a folder and he looking almost liberated, like a kid heading out to recess.  _'That bad, huh?'_ Kaoru thought, suppressing a snicker.  She could imagine that Himura Natsue would not be a pleasant woman to have to do business with.

 

Kenshin sat down next to Kaoru, though at a proper distance away, and struck up conversation so energetically that it was hard to tell at first that all the life in the room was coming from him.  The Arais thawed a little, Natsue began to lose her pinched expression, and Kensuke occasionally showed glimmers of a personality, but it was obvious that Kenshin would not be able to keep the talk going smoothly forever unless the others started helping him out.

 

Kaoru found herself watching the maids, two silent women in uniform who observed the gathering with intent, knowing eyes.  The conspiracy theory was getting harder and harder to dismiss.  Kaoru deliberately tried to focus her attention back on the conversation, which was turning more and more awkward despite Kenshin's valiant attempts.  Natsue was obviously still disgruntled, her parents were mildly uncomfortable, and Kenshin and Kensuke....

 

Kaoru frowned, watching the way they shifted restlessly, their eyes wandering, the politeness of Kenshin's speech and Kensuke's almost total silence.  It seemed like they were... _waiting_ for something.

 

Another maid came in just then, holding a cordless phone.  "Lady Himura," she said demurely, though Kaoru could have sworn her amused eyes flicked to Kenshin for a moment, "there is a phone call for you."

 

"I have guests, Kimiko," Natsue snapped.  "Take a message."

 

The maid curtsied politely.  "If you please, Madam, it's the senator."

 

Natsue paused.  Then she rose and made her excuses, rather hopelessly ordering Kensuke to entertain the guests while she was gone.  When she had left the room, Iori chose that moment to suddenly complain of a condition that made Kaoru's cheeks catch fire, especially when she saw Kensuke's smirk.  _'I'd like to see_ you _change a diaper, you stuck-up rich boy,'_ she thought hotly.

 

"Kimiko-dono, if you will please show them where to go?" Kenshin said with perfect courtesy, though Kaoru thought it a little odd that he addressed the woman as if he had any right to give orders in this house.

 

"Certainly, Ken-chan," she said with a smile.

 

 _'Ah,'_ Kaoru realized hopelessly.  _'The conspiracy again.'_   She watched her family leave the room, since her father had decided to take the opportunity for himself as well.  By the time she looked back at the remaining people, they were already in motion.  She watched in surprise as Kenshin got up and ambled around, running his hands thoughtfully over the bokutô she had earlier noticed displayed on one of the walls.  Kensuke glanced between him and Kaoru, then shrugged and got up to do the same.  The maids were already clearing away the refreshments and shoving back the furniture, leaving the middle of the room open.

 

"What's--" Kaoru started, but had no sooner opened her mouth when Kenshin and Kensuke, having selected their weapons, flew into action.  The boy seemed totally transformed.  No longer a sullen, rebellious figure, Kaoru watched in astonishment as he whirled with athletic grace, his eyes alight, mouth open in good-natured taunting.  Kenshin said little, but his eyes were also bright and his mouth pulled into a grin.  Kaoru had never seen two people more happy as they slashed at each other with wooden swords, each trying to get the upper hand.  "They're having a fight, _here_?!" she yelped.

 

"Yes!  Aren't they wonderful?" one of the maids laughed.  "Go!  Ken-chan, go!"

 

"Which Ken-chan?" her companion giggled.

 

"Both of them!"

 

Kaoru stared at them, these two maids who had dropped their quiet facade to raucously cheer on the opponents.  _'Who_ are _these people?!  And...does it mean that Himura Natsue_ isn't _part of the conspiracy?'_

 

Kenshin was scoring hits without even looking out of breath, to Kensuke's obvious annoyance; he yelled and charged, was countered, elegantly moved into a second strike, was countered again, then in the next instant was able to score a clumsy blow.  "Hah!  Take that, Gramps!"

 

"Wonderful," Kenshin laughed.  "Of course, seeing as a glancing blow to the shoulder isn't very debilitating--"

 

"Oh, shut up!" Kensuke yelled, attacking again.

 

Then all five of them froze, open-mouthed, when Kensuke's bokutô suddenly flew out of his grasp and hurled straight through one of the windows.  The crash was tremendous, and they all stared for a moment at the jagged hole in the glass, still occasionally dripping shards.  Then Kenshin and Kensuke burst into laughter, as the maids scolded them teasingly.

 

"You all are crazy," Kaoru muttered, though she couldn't help smiling as well.

 

Just then, the maid Kimiko hurried back into the room, saying urgently, "Quick!  They're coming back!"  The others sprang into action at once, Kenshin and Kensuke and the maids shoving furniture back into place and getting the snacks back into position, so that by the time Natsue and the Arais came back into the room, Kenshin and Kensuke were seated as if nothing had happened and the maids were standing at attention.  Somehow, the hole in the window was gone, though Kaoru could still feel a breeze from outside.

 

"My apologies," Natsue was saying in embarrassment for her absence.

 

"Kaoru-chan?" her mother said in concern, "Are you all right?"

 

"I'm...fine," Kaoru said faintly.

 

"Kensuke, your cheeks are flushed," Natsue said sharply.  "What have you been doing?"

 

"Drinking too much hot tea," her son grunted, hiding a smile.

 

The rest of the visit was a little anticlimactic.  Kensuke had subsided back into his sullen, quiet persona, though Kaoru knew now that it was only a mask, that his true self was lurking somewhere, ready to be brought to life again with the right touch.  The maids did nothing more extraordinary than watch the conversation more attentively than they should, and occasionally exchange glances, or (now that Kaoru was watching so closely) brushing Kenshin with affectionate, oh-so-casual caresses when their mistress couldn't see.

_'So the conspiracy,'_ Kaoru thought to herself in half-amused frustration, _'is that he magically attracts all females and is waiting for me to fall into his lap as well.'_   The idea was absurd, though she had a hard time dismissing it.  _'It's not just the girls, though...the men love him too.  Not in the same way, but you can tell the way they admire and look up to him.'_   Even Natsue, proud and unpleasant as she was, treated Kenshin with a sort of deference.  She may not be fawning over him so like many women did, but there was certainly something about him that seized your attention.  _'Kenshin...what's going on?'_   She would find out the answer, even if she had to work up the guts to come out and ask him directly.

 

"Kaoru-san?"

 

Kaoru started and looked at Natsue, who was giving her a disapproving look.  "I...I'm sorry, what was that?"

 

"Yes," Kenshin jumped in helpfully, "Kaoru-dono has been awarded the scholarship this year, that she has.  This one is very proud of her, and is sure she will fulfill expectations."

 

"I see," Natsue said coolly.  "We hope to have Kensuke apply when he is of age.  It would be such an honor--"

 

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be awarded by default," Kenshin assured her, to her surprise.  "That is, if he stays in school and doesn't get into too much trouble to overlook."  He turned to Kensuke.  "Meaning, no more stolen science projects or toilet-papering the auditorium, yes?"

 

"Mr. O'Neill," Natsue murmured, red-faced as she glanced at the amused Arais.

 

"That was last year," Kensuke grumbled, not quite able to hide a smirk.  "I've been good this year.  Mostly."

 

"This one is glad to hear it.  By the way, when are you going to drop by the castle again?  We haven't seen you in a while."

 

Kensuke suddenly raised his head.  "I _would_ go," he said hotly, "but Mom won't let me!  She says--"

 

"It seems improper," Natsue said quickly, "for a Himura to have the run of that place when it no longer belongs to him.  Perhaps on his next vacation from school we can arrange an educational visit."

 

"Himura Castle," Kenshin said quietly, "will always belong to your family, Natsue-dono, no matter who owns the paperwork."

 

Kensuke grinned triumphantly and Natsue seemed not to know what to say, so Mr. Arai made a comment on the wooden swords on display and started Kenshin and Kensuke off on the lively topic.  At one point, Natsue complained of a draft, and Kaoru breathlessly looked to Kenshin, who smoothed it over as usual (though she did notice, as they were leaving, that he slipped Maya a check with sternly whispered instructions).

 

As they were in the car, driving home again, Mrs. Arai bravely made the comment, "Well, Lady Himura seemed very nice."

 

Kenshin smiled knowingly.  "Do you really think so?"

 

There was a pause.

 

"You seem to know them pretty well," Kaoru ventured.

 

"Yes.  Kensuke is a very good friend."

 

"That boy?" Kaoru's father said in surprise.  "He didn't seem to have a lot to say, at least until we started on kendô."

 

"It is difficult for a child to flourish in a stifled environment."  Kenshin's voice was very low, and did not invite further comment.  Then he blinked.  "Oh," he said, as if suddenly remembering something, "if you still want to see the castle, please feel welcome to come at any time, free of charge.  This one apologizes for changing your plans, he should have put more thought into it."  He suddenly smiled at Kaoru.  "What did you think of Kensuke, Kaoru-dono?"

 

She did not say, _'He's just as weird and interesting as the rest of you people.'_   What she said was, "He seemed...like there was more to him.  Like he was hiding, except when--"  She broke off, remembering that her parents had not seen Kenshin's friendly bout with the young Himura boy.

 

"Except when," Kenshin said meaningfully.  "What about then?"

 

"I think it would be worth getting to know him better," she said slowly.

 

"Yes," he said, satisfied.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  I haven't quite decided yet what age to have the Kenshingumi at...I guess, since a 53-year-old Sanosuke wouldn't be as much use as a twenty-something-year-old Sano, I'll have them drink Tomoe's elixir, too.  Though not all of them will choose to keep doing this after Shishio's taken care of.

 

"Akai" is the adjective "red."  I'm not sure if I am spelling Iori's nickname for Kenshin correctly; it took some guesswork and some hunting through my Japanese dictionary to figure out what he might be saying.

 

Btw, Titania woke up one day and decided that she was furious that Tomoe had been the first to break her contract.  So Ti released all her other handmaids in a temper tantrum and took on a new set.  I have yet to decide whether this will be a serious event or played for laughs, but either way, it won't have much impact on the story.


	43. Chapter 43

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 4**

 

Himura Natsue aside, Kaoru's parents had been so delighted with Kenshin that they were all for attending the not-historical re-enactment a week later, which did indeed seem more like a fantasy play (though there was definitely a large percent of realistic-looking fighting).  Kaoru had been amazed to watch Kenshin - not only was she surprised by the fact that he was taking an active role at all, but his performance was incredible.  It was like he turned into a completely different person on the mock-battlefield, a cold-eyed soldier with exquisite swordplay whose heart thawed with delightful angst in the final act.

 

"He should be an actor," was Mrs. Arai's comment.

 

"I think he's got enough on his plate with the museum," Kaoru said, thinking of the meetings and paperwork he kept inadvertently hinting at, and the tired creases she sometimes saw in his forehead and in the corners of his eyes.  Those were the only times when he ever looked even a little old; when he was happier (which was most of the time when Kaoru saw him face to face), he looked as if he could walk into a high school and not look out of place as long as he dressed the part.

 

Kaoru was not surprised when Kenshin caught her afterwards to chat, but it was a mere brief whirlwind of exchanged words amongst the crowd before he was pulled away again (apparently in several directions at once).  Kaoru felt sorry for him as she saw how many people, both official-looking and everyday-looking, sought his attention.  "It must be tough," she murmured.

 

"He _is_ an important man," her mother mused, looking thoughtful.  "I still can't get over the fact that he sets aside so much time for you, Kaoru-chan."

 

"Me, neither."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru managed to forget about Himura Castle for a few days, as if she was a normal person with a normal life.  Then, after what happened at school the next Wednesday, she shakily volunteered for cleaning duty so that she wouldn't have to go home with her friends.  This was so that they wouldn't see her get off at the Himura Castle bus stop and march straight up to the doors.  She walked in and told the lady at the front desk, "I'm Arai Kaoru."

 

The woman smiled.  "Welcome.  Please enjoy your visit."

 

So apparently the entire castle now had orders to let her have the run of the place.  Feeling a mix of gratification and anger, Kaoru marched on, her steps only slowing when she realized she had no idea where Kenshin's office was.  She found the information booth and asked.  The man there was not familiar to her, and for once he didn't seem to recognize her, but when he heard her name, he suddenly straightened and nervously informed her that Officer Sagara would escort her.

 

"What's up, Jouchan?"

 

"How about you tell me," Kaoru said angrily, so that he suddenly looked alarmed.

 

"Huh?"

 

"You heard me, Officer.  Or should that be _Sanosuke_?  Just how well am I supposed to know you, anyway?"

 

After a moment, the disconcerted look slipped from his face and he asked, surprisingly gently, "Did something happen, Jouchan?"

 

"How did you know?!" she screamed furiously.

 

He backed away, once again alarmed.  "Whoa, whoa, calm down!  I just guessed, okay?"

 

"Yeah, _right_!"

 

"Look, let's go see Kenshin, okay?" he said hurriedly.

 

"Why?" she demanded.  "Why Kenshin?  Why not you, or _Megumi_ , or _Yahiko_ , or any of the other people here who seem to know me soooo well?"

 

"Because Kenshin knows you best," Sanosuke said simply, which shut her up for a moment.

 

"What are you people planning?" she finally whispered.

 

He grinned.  "Bad things.  To our enemies.  Who would kill you or worse if they knew who you were, Jouchan."

 

There was a moment of silence.  "I think," she finally said faintly, "I'll ask Kenshin after all."  As they resumed walking again, "Who _am_ I, anyway?"

 

"At the moment?" he said with false carelessness, "Arai Kaoru."

 

"Who do _you_ think I am?" she challenged.

 

"Well," he said cautiously.  "You've had different names...but believe me, Jouchan, you will definitely always be you."

 

"This is all crazy, you know?  I don't know you, I don't know any of you, I've never seen you in my _life_ before.  Why am I somehow mixed up in all this?!"

 

"You ever watch much sci-fi?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue.

 

"What does that have to do with--"  She broke off when she remembered yet again what had happened earlier at school.  She didn't say anything else until they had reached Kenshin's office.

 

Sanosuke pushed open the door just as they heard someone start to yell behind it.  They watched in astonishment as Kenshin, who seemed to have discarded the less necessary pieces of his business suit, tossed an armful of items up in the air and swept out a sword in seemingly the same movement.  As the items fell, the blade first slashed through what looked like his office telephone, then one of those new cellular phones, but at that moment, he caught sight of them in the doorway.

 

His mouth dropped open for an instant, after which the last of the falling items, a walkie-talkie, crashed down onto his head and bounced to the floor, where its seams burst.  Kenshin collapsed on his desk, covering his head in his arms and groaning in what sounded more like mortification than pain.

 

"Had some nasty phone calls?" Sanosuke said delicately, obviously trying not to laugh.

 

"You'd think running a museum you love would be more fun," Kenshin grumbled.  "Did it occur to you to knock, Sano?  What is it?"

 

"I'd like to present," Sanosuke said, still laughing, "Arai Kaoru."

 

One blue eye emerged sheepishly from the mass of protective hair and sleeves.  "Kaoru-dono.  Er...apologies for the...rude display...this one was not expecting you," he said ruefully.

 

"Good," Kaoru said forcefully.  "It's nice for _you_ to be the one unbalanced for once."

 

Frowning, he straightened and grave her a searching look, which she returned with a glare.

 

"I'll leave you two alone, shall I?" Sanosuke offered, starting to move away.

 

"Leave the door open."  Kenshin and Kaoru glanced at each other in surprise - they had spoken the exact same thing at exactly the same moment.

 

"Uh...will do," Sanosuke said, and left.

 

They waited tensely until they heard his footsteps fading.  Then Kaoru said abruptly, "Why do you have a sword?"

 

"Oro?  Oh."  Kenshin looked at the blade in his hand as if he had never seen it before, then quickly sheathed it and locked it away in a cabinet, which made her feel a little better.  At least he was no longer armed.  "This one has been practicing swordsmanship for a long time now, that he has."

 

"How long?" she challenged, thinking of his bout with Himura Kensuke.

 

He looked at her sideways and smiled warningly.  "Many years now.  What can I do for you, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"You can _explain_ to me," she said tightly, "what's going on."

 

"Hm."  He went to get his tie and jacket without answering, not looking at her until he had put them back on again.  Then his head snapped up when she snatched a paperweight from his desk and flung it at the wall.

 

"Answer me!"

 

Kenshin stared at the new hole in his wall for a minute, open-mouthed.  Then he looked back at her.  "Perhaps you've...ah...remembered some things that you...hadn't before?" he said tentatively.

 

"Remembered _what_ things?!  Does that mean there are things I'm _supposed_ to remember?!  Like what?!  What!"

 

He looked nervous, which pleased her.  It briefly occurred to her that he could be acting, to put her off her guard, and she desperately hoped she was being paranoid.  "Like...why we all know you.  Forgive us, Kaoru-dono; we were unable to hide it as we should have."

 

Some of her anger and fear died away at this open acknowledgement at last that the strange things that had been happening were not her imagination.  "So you _do_ know me from before.  You admit it."

 

"Yes," he said quietly.

 

"Why don't I remember, then!"

 

He didn't answer right away.  Then he reached up and, to Kaoru's surprise, pulled free a necklace that had been hidden under his collar.  It was a very feminine-looking piece of jewelry, a small jeweled rose pendant on a thin gold chain.  He cupped it carefully in his hand and held it out to Kaoru.  "This belongs to you," he said quietly.  "This one has been keeping it safe for you, but it seems time that you had it back."

 

"What is it?" Kaoru said guardedly, making no move to touch it.

 

"It contains the key to unlocking your memories," he explained.

 

Frowning suspiciously, Kaoru edged forward and looked at the thing for a while before picking it up.  It was very beautiful, but who knew how it had been tinkered with, what hidden purposes it may have been designed for.  "How, exactly?"

 

He seemed to wilt a little.  "We don't know.  None of us knows...only you are supposed to know how to use it, and it seems you've forgotten."

 

"Convenient," Kaoru growled.  "So, spill.  What's the story behind all this?"

 

He thought for a moment.  "Well.  You are aware you are adopted, yes?"

 

"Yeah," Kaoru said, her spine suddenly prickling.  "Do you...know my real family?"

 

"None of them still live," he said gently.  "Your parents died long ago, and you had no brothers or sisters.  It was this one who brought you here, and made sure you were taken into a family who would love you and care for you as you grew."

 

"You!" she exclaimed.  "How could _you_ have had anything to do with me when I was a baby?  How old are you, anyway?"

 

"Twenty-four," he answered easily.

 

Kaoru's eyes narrowed.  "So you dropped me off with Mom and Dad when you were seven years old?"

 

He started to laugh, but quickly broke off when he saw the look on her face.  "Well, according to the driver's license, this one is twenty-four, that he is."

 

"So how old are you _really_?  Tell me the truth!"

 

"Why don't you guess?" he said cautiously.

 

"Oh, for goodness' sake!  With a face like yours, you could be sixteen - or twenty-eight - or, hey, let's go all out, I bet you're two hundred years old!"

 

"Those are wonderful guesses," he said encouragingly.  "By the way, if you're not going to wear the necklace, please, this one begs you, do not let it out of your sight.  It's very important."

 

"I'm sure it is!" she cried.  "Without it you can't track me, can you."

 

He smiled a little.  "If we wanted to track you, don't you think we would have more efficient ways to do it than to give you a necklace you could easily lay aside?  Please, Kaoru-dono, for your own sake - do not lose that rose."

 

Kaoru shoved it sullenly into her pocket.  "What was Sa...Officer Sagara talking about, anyway?  About me being in danger?"

 

"He told you that?" Kenshin said quickly.

 

"Yes," she said, pushing her advantage.  "He said someone would...would kill me, if they knew who I was.  Is that true?"

 

"They might kill you," Kenshin said slowly.  "Though it is much more likely they would use you against...against us here at Himura Castle.  You are...very important to us, Kaoru-dono.  We have been trying to get you under the castle's protection, but unfortunately, progress has been slow...we don't want to push you away.  But if you get hurt because of the delay, I would never forgive myself."

 

There was a pause.  Kenshin was looking down at the floor, and Kaoru was breathing hard.

 

"Why do they want to hurt me?" she finally asked.  "Who am I?  Who you do _think_ I am?" she quickly amended.

 

He eyed her.  "What do you think of our government, Kaoru-dono?"

 

She didn't know what to say for a minute.  "What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"A lot," he said, quite seriously.

 

Kaoru shrugged uneasily.  "It's all right," she said warily.  "Everyone complains about any kind of government.  I haven't... _personally_ had any problems with it."

 

"Hm.  Granted, he has not yet moved for his ultimate goal, and still does his work from the shadows.  He is very dangerous, though.  This one assumes that you've heard nothing of the assassinations he has ordered, the officials he has corrupted, the dangerous deals he has arranged or the plans he has already begun to put into place to darken this country's future?"

 

"I don't even know who you're talking about," she said harshly, though a cold feeling was creeping over her.

 

"I see," he said in a low voice.  "Kaoru-dono, we do not have a lot of time...this one doesn't know what to do.  It is difficult to treat you so delicately when the situation is so desperate."

 

Kaoru began to edge away.  "You'll let me go, right?" she said nervously.  "You're not going to...keep me here, are you?"

 

"No, of course not," he said quickly.  "You are not a...prisoner here."  She was surprised to see the flicker of pain that crossed his face at those words.

 

"So if I turned around right this minute and walked out, and never came back," Kaoru challenged, her palms sweating, "no one would stop me?"

 

Kenshin seemed to have difficulty speaking.  "It would not be...the first time," he finally managed.

 

".....What?"

 

"You lived in Himura Castle before," he said softly.  "You were happy, I know you were.  Then...something terrible was done to you...and you asked to leave.  We let you.  You were gone...it was a terrible time."  He went silent.

 

"And did I come back?" Kaoru finally said, not sure yet whether she believed him or not.

 

He tried to smile at her, and for the first time, he couldn't.  "Perhaps it would be best to let you remember on your own."

 

Kaoru looked away stubbornly.  For a while, they didn't say anything.  Then she took a deep breath.  "So.  What do you know about people falling off roofs and _not_ breaking their necks?"

 

"...Pardon?"

 

She looked back at him and saw that he was confused.  "Me," she clarified aggressively.  "At school today.  Helping hang up a banner over the underclassmen building - I leaned over too far, fell three stories, and _floated_."

 

He was gaping at her.  "You fell off a _roof_?"

 

"Oh, you didn't know?" she said bitterly.  "You haven't been _spying_ on me or anything?"

 

"And you're not hurt?!"  He had stepped forward in concern, but stopped at the realization that she didn't want him near her.

 

"No!  I'm not!"  Kaoru waved her arms for emphasis.  "Not a scratch.  Pretty _weird_ , huh?"

 

"Someone...must have caught you," he said helplessly.

 

"No!  There was no one, I just _fell_ and screamed my _head_ off and then realized I was _floating_ , and it took a whole minute for people to run up and ask me if I was okay!"

 

"I meant....  Well."  He turned away from her.  "This one will call Tomoe-dono and--"  His hand paused over an empty spot on his desk, and he looked at the shattered pieces of his communication devices still littering the floor.  "Oro...."

 

"Telephones are a horrible invention, aren't they," Kaoru remarked pointedly.

 

"Only sometimes," Kenshin said weakly.  He turned in the other direction and went to the doorway.  Kaoru yelped to see two women huddled there, startled to suddenly be noticed.

 

"Ken-chan!  Uh...."

 

"We weren't listening, really!"

 

"Yes, I know," Kenshin said calmly, "because this one sound-proofed the room.  Michiko-dono, Sara-dono, would you be kind enough to ask Tomoe-dono to come here, if it's not too much trouble?"

 

"Yes...."

 

"All right...."

 

Looking guilty, they slunk off.  Kenshin sighed and leaned his back against the door frame, closing his eyes as if tired.

 

"What do you mean the room was sound-proofed?" Kaoru demanded.  "The door was wide open!"

 

Kenshin looked at her for a minute.  Then he walked over, made an odd gesture in the air, picked up a cup of paper clips, and upturned it over his desk.  Kaoru blinked and took a moment to register that she hadn't heard a single sound as the clips scattered over the hard surface.  As she was still gazing in surprise, Kenshin swept his fingers through the air again, then began picking up the paper clips.  They made distinct clicking sounds as he dropped each one back into the cup.

 

"How...how did you _do_ that?"

 

"How did you fall off a roof in complete safety, Kaoru-dono?" he asked quietly, not looking at her.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "You're not good at answering questions."

 

"Apologies."

 

She looked at him.  "That's not what I wanted to hear."

 

"Apologies," he said again, seemingly absorbed in picking up paper clips.

 

Presently, someone else came into the room - Tomoe.  Kaoru remembered now that this was one of the few Himura Castle people who had first met her with no trace of inappropriate recognition.

 

"Thank you, Tomoe-dono," Kenshin was saying gratefully.  "Kaoru-dono...she says she fell three stories at her school, and, er, floated, before she hit the ground.  She is not hurt."

 

"Ah," Tomoe said.  She turned her head to survey Kaoru openly.  "Very interesting."

 

"Yeah.  Can you explain it?" Kaoru said pointedly.  "Because _somebody_ around here had better."

 

"This one was thinking that perhaps there was someone nearby to catch her--"

 

"It seems," Tomoe said quietly, "that Kaoru-san is now capable of looking after herself in such situations."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Oro?"

 

"I'm sorry you were frightened," Tomoe said to Kaoru.  Her calmness was refreshing.  "Kenshin-san...I can sense magic awakening in her.  She saved herself when she fell."

 

"Did you _know_ this?" he demanded.

 

"No.  Not until just now."

 

"What are you talking about - magic?" Kaoru burst out.

 

Tomoe looked at her.  "How much we can tell you depends on how much you are willing to believe."

 

"I want the _truth_!"

 

Tomoe studied her.  After a while she said, "What happened was too strange, wasn't it.  Would you really believe any explanation we could give you?"

 

Kaoru had to think about it a long time before grudgingly admitting that no, there was nothing they could say that would ever fully satisfy her.

 

"What would be best for now," Tomoe went on, "is for you to see if you can unlock your memories from the rose.  You only know your life as Arai Kaoru now, but if you were to remember being the woman you once were...."  She shrugged.

 

"This thing," Kaoru said disbelievingly, dangling the necklace.

 

Tomoe lifted her arm, so that her sleeve fell back and revealed the bracelet on her wrist.  "This is actually a tiara," she said.  "I...re-worked it to make it look like a bracelet, but its essence has not changed.  I used it to store my own memories in, and I admit it took me a little while to learn how to retrieve them.  However, I was born fae, so I was not hostile to the idea of magic, as you are.  I'm afraid it is more difficult for you."

 

Kaoru was staring at her.  "You mean _you_ went through the same thing?"

 

Tomoe smiled.  "My case was not nearly as complicated, but yes.  We both drank the elixir at the same time.  I was much more certain of its effects on myself than on you, but we both knew the risk we were taking."

 

" _This one_ didn't," Kenshin grumbled.

 

Tomoe smiled affectionately at him.  "That was more Kaoru-san's fault than mine."

 

"What?" Kaoru said irritably.

 

Tomoe glanced back at her.  "Unfortunately, I drank before you, so you were alone when you made the decision to drink as well.  I'm afraid that your last moments as Himura Kaoru will remain a mystery until you reveal them yourself, which has been rather frustrating to us these seventeen years."

 

Kaoru was gaping.  " _Himura_ Kaoru?!"

 

"Yes," Kenshin said quietly.  "You are related to that family, Kaoru-dono.  Do you perhaps see some of your importance now?"

 

"I...I don't--  You said my real family was dead!"

 

"Your immediate family," he amended.  "The truth is, Kaoru-dono, that the Himura family is in danger from this government - from Shishio Makoto, in fact; even now, before he has reached full power.  We have tried to track down as many of the direct descendants of the old kings as we could, but we have only found Kensuke, Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono - and now you.  We have been trying to get you all under protection, as this one has said, before Shishio makes his real move, but it is difficult.  Kensuke and the girls know the truth, but their parents are, like you, much more difficult to convince.  We are having to tread very cautiously with them.  We even almost lost the castle, when Himura Natsue tried to sell it to pay off debts from living beyond her means."  He smiled ruefully.  "This one had to buy it himself, of course."

 

Kaoru's head was spinning.  "But...but - why would _you_ care?  Who are you people?  If the Himura family is supposedly in so much danger, what are you, their guardians or something?"

 

Kenshin smiled a very slow, mirthless smile.  "Well.  This one's name is also Himura.  'Ken O'Neill' is a pseudonym, not that it's fooling anyone important.  And you were right, Kaoru-dono - there is a reason why this one resembles the kings in all those portraits, that there is."

 

"I think that's enough," Kaoru suddenly said.  "I think...I have enough to think about right now."

 

Kenshin bowed and murmured, "Of course."

 

Very slowly, Kaoru backed away.  Then she stopped, and looked back at Kenshin, swallowing.  "I'd like to go home now," she whispered.

 

To her relief, he nodded.  "Would you...like someone to walk you out?"

 

She shook her head.  "...Thank you."

 

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

 

She nodded, then turned and left.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  One of the side-effects of the elixir is that it starts turning the drinker into a fae.


	44. Chapter 44

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 5**

 

"Are you all right, Kaoru-chan?" Mrs. Arai asked in concern that night at dinner.  "You don't look very well."

 

"Oh...I'm fine...I just have a lot on my mind," Kaoru mumbled.

 

"Grumpy," Iori commented.  Kaoru smiled wanly and reached out to ruffle his hair.

 

She couldn't concentrate on her homework.  Thoughts of Kenshin kept swirling through her head, and what he had told her, and the things that had been happening.  The issue of whether to believe them or not was becoming such a circular argument in her head that she finally decided not to think about that anymore.

 

Did she trust them, at least?  In a weird way, yes.  Their genuine concern for her spilled out through every word and gesture, so that Kaoru found it very difficult to doubt at least the sincerity of their feelings for her.  In a weird way, they seemed to love her as much as Kenshin...though that was kind of an odd idea in itself.

 

Then again, it was only weird because she still thought of them as strangers.  If she knew them well, would she be as bothered by the way their attention seemed so fixed on her?  Kaoru thought about it for a while, and had to answer, no, she wouldn't.  She didn't mind being the center of attention of her friends, or her own family caring for her.  The people of Himura Castle acted the same; it was only the fact that they seemed to know her before she knew them that was making things seem so wrong.

_'Kenshin....'_

 

It explained a lot, if he knew her so well.  The way he looked at her and spoke to her, the way he seemed to bask simply in her presence.  It was uncomfortable if she kept thinking of him as some important adult, but...just how deep _had_ their relationship been, anyway?

 

_"He knows you best."_

 

Had he been a relative, perhaps?  ("If that's true, he still _is_ a relative," Kaoru told herself sternly.)  An uncle, perhaps, caring about her after the death of her parents.  Which led to rather painful emotions about her family, and how she, apparently a Himura, had ended up an orphan and with a new family.  _'I should have asked him more,'_ she thought unhappily, knowing that she couldn't have, that her brain had already been on overload.

 

Still, it would be nice to know more about this apparently important Himura family.  Himura Kenshin, Himura Kensuke, Aya and Suzumi....  _'And Himura Me, ugh.'_   Himura Kaoru.  She tried the name out in her head, and was shocked at how easily it seemed to fall into place.  "Kenshin," she said again out loud, slowly, savoring the way her mouth formed the name.

 

Maybe...they were clues.  The way she felt around Kenshin, the way she cried and had those almost-memories.  If she really had known those people so well, really had somehow lost her memories...well, it all made sense.  "Kenshin," she said again, unhappily.  Yes, that was it.  She spoke the name as if she had said it a thousand times before, as if Kenshin had been a member of her own family.  _'He knew my name,'_ she suddenly realized.  _'From the scholarship application?'_

 

She was the one who had suggested that, not him.  "Argh."  Kaoru smacked herself on the forehead.  She had given Kenshin the perfect excuse for him knowing her name at their first (their _supposedly_ first) meeting.  She had practically put words in his mouth - even when she had stormed into his office earlier, it suddenly chilled her the way their conversation had played out.  She had given him everything he had needed to tell her not enough of the truth without actually lying.  As if...they knew each other so deeply, on some subconscious level, that even their speech fit together intimately, each knowing exactly how much to give the other.

 

"Kenshin," she murmured again in exasperation, unexpectedly pleased by the feel of his name in her mouth.

 

Which got her to the most uncomfortable point of the whole thing.  Magic.  Things absolutely unexplainable by anything else.  _"I know you didn't, because I soundproofed the room."_   A parlor trick, it had almost seemed, so small, but...she hadn't heard a single paper clip spill, even though she had watched with her own eyes.  Such a small thing that she had trouble believing it was so important.  Yet, _'Anyone could have turned sound on and off at will, right?'_ sounded ridiculous.  She hadn't been watching something on a TV screen, it had been _real life_ , playing out right before her, watching paper clips come bouncing out across a desk without a sound.  _'And what about earlier, at school?'_

 

She had been trying to avoid thinking about that.  Falling through the air, so sure she was going to die, wondering wildly why it was taking so long and felt so nice, feeling her feet tap the ground without being able to believe it.  _'I've...fallen before...and I didn't die.'_

 

Kaoru clapped her hands over her face.  There it was again, another memory-that-was-not-a-memory.  She did _not_ remember falling without dying before.  Yet she was sure, somewhere in her body if not her mind, that it had happened.  Just like she was sure she had spoken Kenshin's name often enough for it to be second nature, just like walking the halls of Himura Castle brought her to tears.

 

_'Why a castle?'_

 

Kaoru could feel herself starting to tremble.

_"You ever watch much sci-fi?"_

 

Surely things weren't _that_ bad, were they?  Ancient kings and castles--  Surely, whatever strange things were going on, it all had to do with... _today_ , this present time...didn't it?

_"There is a reason why this one resembles the kings in those portraits."_

 

Kenshin....  Kaoru suddenly wondered, not without a shudder, if one of the portraits was of _him_.  Not just someone who looked like him, but Kenshin himself.

_"How old are you, anyway?!"_   He had never really answered.  Kaoru let out a heavy sigh, knowing that she had to face at least the possibility that Kenshin was...old.  Like some glamorous immortal out of...a sci-fi movie, or one of those romantic fantasies.

_'I don't know that,'_ she told herself firmly, _'not for sure.'_   It was just a...possibility.  _'That Kenshin's, what, some two hundred-year-old fairy king?'_   Who apparently had strong ties to her.  _'Ugh.'_   Then a giggle came unbidden to her lips as she suddenly had an image of Kenshin as her fairy godfather.  _'Now, that's an idea.  That would explain a lot, too.'_   And was much cuter than thinking of him involved in "bad things, against our enemies," who seemed to include important government figures.  _'Why am I thinking that one of these days, I'll have to bust my fairy godfather out of jail?'_   Because that was something straight out of a sci-fi or fantasy movie.  Officer Sagara Sanosuke would be pleased.

 

Kaoru blinked and sat up, realizing that she had been lying on her bed, listening to music and thinking for over two full hours.  _'Ugh...wonderful.'_   Night had very definitely fallen outside, the window looked black.  Kaoru had a paper due the day after tomorrow, she couldn't afford to be wasting so much time thinking about fairy godfathers and ancient castles.

 

She got up, pulled the curtains over the window, then sat down at her computer to type her paper.  Ten minutes later, she was on the Internet, supposedly to look up a quote, and found herself clicking around instead on the official Web site of Himura Castle.

 

Blah blah, Himura family, blah, _"...the castle is now owned by Ken O'Neill, born in Ireland...."_   Ireland.  He didn't have an accent...he spoke flawless Japanese.  _"...but having immigrated to Japan as a young child."_   Well, that might make sense.  _"Mr. O'Neill is interested in restoring_ " blah blah blah, _"...along with the new staff of Himura Castle."_   New staff?  As in...a whole set to replace the old ones?  The Web page didn't explain further, which was a little frustrating.  It seemed like an important detail.

 

Tiring of the official drivel, Kaoru resorted to a search engine instead, and found some interesting things.  After realizing that she had spent way too much time reading through some rather shockingly muckraker blog entries from someone called "Zanza," Kaoru got out of there and continued her research.  The stuff on the Himura family was boring...until she got to the earliest recorded information about that family line, which was pretty fuzzy but mentioned a lot of interesting, though obviously false stories, similar to what Kenshin had been telling her when they'd met at the museum.

 

 _Obviously_ false?  After all...it had also been 'obviously false' that Kenshin could have spilled paper clips without making a sound.

 

"Magic," Kaoru groaned.  "I almost forgot, Kenshin's my fairy godfather."  This all seemed so ridiculous....

 

It was also two o'clock in the morning, and for a little while now, she had been finding it difficult to keep reading through eyes that were blurring with increased frequency.  "Go to bed, Kaoru," she finally told herself wearily.  There was just too much information available, it was too hard to sift through it all and decide what was true and what was made up.  It was probably...even better to just stop resisting and get acquainted with the Himura Castle people herself.  _'I don't..._ think _they're dangerous.'_   If they were, they wouldn't have let her parents come along to visit Natsue, would they?

_"Bad things.  To our enemies."_

 

Kaoru shivered and determinedly went to bed and tried to think mindless thoughts, rather than the ones she had been entertaining.  After a while, she was successful, and so managed to go to sleep.

 

_To be continued...._


	45. Chapter 45

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 6**

 

Kaoru had never done the usual things for her crush.  The love notes, lovingly-packed lunches and so on had been her friends' ideas.  Perhaps, however, that refreshing change is what caught Yamato's attention, because one morning before class, he sauntered up beside Kaoru's desk and casually asked her out.

 

"Wh-what did you, uh, say?" she stammered, sure she had not been hearing right.

 

He raised an eyebrow.  "You, me, catching a movie Saturday night?  Then, you know, maybe dinner and stuff?  Or no?"

 

"Food is wonderful!" she yelped, then flushed crimson.  "That is...sounds good.  Or...actually, Saturday may not be a good night," she said, suddenly remembering a prior obligation, "but how about Sunday?"  She just barely managed to catch herself from adding, _"Please?"_

 

Yamato grinned.  "Sunday's a school night."

 

"Oh.  Right."

 

"We could do lunch and a movie.  Not breakfast, though, 'cause I sleep in late."

 

Kaoru laughed.  "Lunch sounds good."  She took in a deep breath to steady herself.  "Look up the show times and call me."  Yamato grinned, playfully flipped her ponytail, and moved away, leaving her to slump face-forward into her desk when he was no longer in her line of vision.

 

"Kaoru-chaaaan...!"

 

"No!  No gushing yet!" she groaned at her friends.  "Give me a minute!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

That Saturday, Kaoru was sent to do the grocery shopping on top of everything else.  She was wandering through the aisles, looking for things on her list, when she heard some girlish giggling somewhere fairly close by.  She didn't pay attention to it at first until one of the voices rose petulantly, "But Ken-jiichan doesn't like those, Neesan!"  Kaoru looked over in surprise to see Aya and Suzumi surveying a shelf of brightly-wrapped packages.

 

"What?  Of course he does, why wouldn't he?" Aya objected.

 

"He doesn't _say_ anything, but didn't you notice the last time he ate it?  He was making faces when he thought we weren't looking."

 

After a sigh, "Well, then pick something he _will_ like, if you're so smart."

 

Kaoru hesitated, then gave in to impulse and went up to the girls.  "Hello," she said awkwardly, and with such a nervously low volume that she had to repeat it louder for them to hear.

 

Suzumi peered over her shoulder curiously, and Aya turned around in surprise.  "It's Ka--!  Uh, Kaoru-san," she exclaimed, her face flushing.

 

"Hi," Kaoru said again, offering an embarrassed smile.  "Are you guys...shopping for snacks?"

 

"For Mom and Ken-jiichan," Suzumi answered eagerly, turning all the way around.  "The museum was being mean again, so he escaped and now he's helping us re-paint the walls!  You want to come help?"

_'The museum was being mean?'_ Kaoru wondered, having sudden visions of paperwork-and-angry-tourist monsters.

 

"Suzumi," her sister scolded, "you can't invite her.  We're not even supposed to _talk_ to her."  Then she glanced apologetically at Kaoru.  "Well, you talked to us first, so I guess it's okay - but you can't come back with us!"  She paused.  "Unless you want to.  Uh...do you want to?" she asked tentatively, as if steeling herself for a negative answer.

 

"Yeah," Suzumi piped up.  "Ken-jiichan will be so happy to see you!  And surprised, heh."  Her sister elbowed her, and she shut up.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "Your mom's going to be there?" she finally murmured.

 

"Yes."

 

"Yeah!"

 

Kaoru hesitated another moment.  "Okay," she finally agreed.

 

Suzumi cheered, and Aya looked surprised.  "Really?  You'll really come?"

 

"Sure.  I just have to drop off the groceries at home first and escape before Mom saddles me with more errands."

 

Suzumi's face was shining, and Aya's surprise merged into such a bright, happy smile that Kaoru felt her heart melt at their obvious pleasure.  "Okay!  Come on, Kaoru-chan!  San, sorry.  Or neesan?  Which would you like best?"

 

"I get to pick my honorific?" Kaoru said teasingly as they headed for the doors.  "Let's go with...."  There was only a brief moment of hesitation.  "Chan."

 

"Yay!"

 

"You're the best, Kaoru-chan!"

 

The girls lived in a very small house, though it was neat and seemed to be in a good neighborhood.  The smell of paint was strong as they walked up to the open front door.  "Mom!  Ken-jiichan!  We're home!"

 

A pretty woman glanced over her shoulder at them with a welcoming smile, seeming young for a mother of teenagers.  "Welcome back!  Oh--!" she exclaimed as she saw Kaoru accompanying her daughters.

 

"Mom, this is Kaoru-chan!"

 

Kaoru held her breath, but the recognition on the woman's face lacked any unnatural intensity, merely expressing a mild interest.  "Oh!  Kenshin's friend, right?  I've heard so much about you from him and the girls."

_'I'm sure you have,'_ Kaoru thought behind her polite smile.  "Nice to meet you."

 

Kenshin's voice came floating through the living room door at that moment.  "Keiko-dono, where do you want--?"  He came into the room, saw the girls, and promptly dropped the paint cans he was carrying.  "Oro..." he murmured, looking down at his paint-splashed clothes.

 

"So sorry I made you ruin your clothes," Kaoru said sweetly.

 

Kenshin only wrapped his arms around himself and smiled very shyly.  It was annoyingly heart-melting.  "It's all right," he murmured almost happily.  After a long pause, he suddenly blinked and shook his head, then knelt to deal with the mess as the girls scampered up with towels and a wastebasket.

 

"You don't have to help us paint," Keiko said apologetically as she climbed down from the stepstool.  "I don't know why the girls dragged you over here when I'm so unprepared, I was just going to warm up leftovers for dinner...!"

 

"Don't worry about it," Kaoru assured her.  "If you like, I can fix you guys something to eat."

 

Kenshin's head shot up in alarm.  "No!" he burst out.  Then, when everyone looked at him in surprise, he smiled disarmingly and added, "That is, you're a guest here, Kaoru-dono, you shouldn't have to worry about such duties.  Go ahead and relax, we'll finish up soon."

 

Ignoring the chatter of the girls in the background, Kaoru narrowed her eyes.  His reaction had been almost _exactly_ the same as that of her family and friends whenever any hint was made about Kaoru's cooking.  _'He knows me well enough to know_ that _?!'_   "I want to cook," she challenged.

 

He gulped.  "A-As you wish, Kaoru-dono," he said meekly, looking like a man steeling himself for execution.

 

"Oh, come on, my cooking's not _that_ bad!" she burst out.

 

The girls started giggling, and Kenshin smiled ruefully.  "As you have apparently guessed...this one has had first-hand experience of such a statement, that he has."

 

" _When_?" she said in exasperation.

 

He said nothing, only casually touched his chest, referring to the necklace that he somehow must have known was hidden under Kaoru's blouse.  She glared at him, so he smiled in self-defense and escaped to the kitchen.

 

And so it ended up with Kaoru helping to paint and Kenshin cooking everyone an (obscenely delicious) late lunch.  He was quiet while they ate, though that might have simply been due to the fact that the girls talked enough for ten people.

 

"What grade are you in, Kaoru-chan???"

 

"I'm a senior."

 

"Really?  We're freshman!  I wish we went to the same school!"

 

"Do you have a lot of friends, Kaoru-chan???"

 

"A few.  Mimi-chan and Mika-chan are my best friends, and I also talk to a lot of people around school.  What about you?"

 

"Oh, there's Haru-chan, Yuna-chan, Chidori-chan--"

 

"Sora-kun, Riku-kun--"

 

"Saki-chan--"

 

"Yuki-kun, Yûri-kun--"

 

"Why are you only saying the boys?!"

 

"'Cause those are the ones I remember first!"

 

Suzumi looked at Kaoru and said with a conspiratorial grin, "Neechan has a crush on every guy in school."

 

"I do _not_!"

 

Suzumi flipped back her ponytail.  "Well, at least on a _certain someone_ \--"

 

"Just because I think Kyô-kun is hot doesn't mean I'd want to date him!  Besides, he's head-over-heels for Honda-chan, anyway.  What about you, Kaoru-chan?" Aya said abruptly.  "Who's your crush?"

 

"What if she doesn't have one?" Kenshin put in.

 

Kaoru straightened, feeling slightly vengeful.  "Actually, I _do_ have a crush," she said, more insistently than she meant to.  "In fact, we're going out tomorrow."  Watching Kenshin, she saw his eyes widen and his mouth open a little, as if he meant to speak but didn't know what to say.

 

"Who is it, who is it?!" the girls were squealing, oblivious.  "Tell us about him, Kaoru-chan!"

 

Now Kaoru was wishing that she'd kept her mouth shut.  "Well...he's cute, a bit too cool but he has a nice smile, plays the harmonica, blonde hair--"

 

"So he's a foreigner?!"

 

Kaoru shrugged a little self-consciously.  "Half.  His mom's definitely foreign, but I'm pretty sure his dad is Japanese.  He doesn't have an accent or anything."

 

"What's...."  Everyone looked at Kenshin, who smiled (a little oddly, Kaoru thought).  "What's his name, Kaoru-dono?  ...Kensuke might know him if he's in kendô."

 

"He's not."

 

"What's his name, Kaoru-chan???" the girls insisted eagerly.

 

"Ishida-kun," Kaoru admitted.

 

"Ishida-kun!" they cried, as if trying it out.

 

"Ishida...?" Kenshin hinted.

 

Kaoru frowned.  "What, do you know him?"

 

"Maybe."

 

Kaoru frowned some more, but was distracted by the girls.  "What's his first name, Kaoru-chan?!"

 

"...Yamato-kun."

 

" _Yamato-kun_!"

 

"Oh, Yamato-kun!"

 

"You have such a nice smile, Yama-kun!"

 

"Please play the harmonica for me, Yama-kun!"

 

"Kiss me, Yama-kun!"

 

"Cut it _out_!" Kaoru cried, feeling as if she was right back with Mimi and Mika.  She glared at Kenshin again, but he was talking to the girls' mother again by this time and acting perfectly normal.  Kaoru sighed, silently telling herself to stop being so paranoid.  "What about you, Kenshin?" she suddenly burst out.

 

Everyone fell silent, surprised.

 

"This one?"

 

"Yeah.  Is there a, a Mrs. O'Neill around or something?"  Her heart was pounding, and she felt guilty, goading him like this.  It didn't seem right, even though he deserved it.

 

Kenshin's expression shifted only a little, but in such a way that Kaoru wished yet again that she'd just kept quiet.  The girls' mouths had dropped open, and they were looking back and forth between Kenshin and Kaoru, their eyes dancing nervously.  Their mother abruptly got up on some pretense of getting refills for the drinks.

 

"...Well...yes and no," Kenshin finally mumbled, fiddling with his napkin.  "At one point this one was...well, still is--"  He paused.  "I suppose you could say that we are separated, that we are."

 

Kaoru was taken aback.  "Oh."  Now she really, _really_ wished she hadn't said anything.

 

"Ken-jiichan loves his wife soooo much," Suzumi said meaningfully, "but she barely even knows he exists anymore.  He won't give up, though!  He'll wait forever for her to come back!"

 

"Suzumi-dono," Kenshin started to say.

 

"It's why Ken-jiichan won't go out with Mom," Ayame whispered conspiratorially.

 

"Neechan!" Suzumi insisted as Kenshin flushed crimson, "Mom said not to tell anyone she likes him!"

 

"What?" Keiko said sharply as she came back in with a full pitcher.  "What are you talking about?"

 

"Nothing," three voices chorused at once.  The girls giggled nervously, and Kenshin looked away, his expression pained.

 

 _'Congratulations, Kaoru,'_ she told herself in disgust.  _'You so do not need to be opening cans of worms right now.'_   "So!" she said brightly instead, "do you have any other plans for renovating the house?"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru was shocked when she realized that it had already grown dark by the time she felt ready to leave.  Kenshin groaned as well, mumbling something about paperwork and someone called Chou.  The girls put in some whiny farewell antics, and Kenshin promised to visit again soon.  Keiko kissed him affectionately on the cheek, but when she lingered with a soft look in her eyes, he smiled sadly, kissed her hand with formal politeness, and turned away.  Kaoru quickly pretended that she had not been watching.

 

Then of course was the inevitable moment, after the others had gone back into the house, when Kaoru realized that Kenshin would be obliged to offer her a ride home.  She surveyed him coolly for a moment.  "If I walk home alone, evil government goons will kidnap me or something?"

 

He sighed.  "Possibly.  Or not.  Or your new...powers...might make themselves known again, and you would be fine either way.  Who knows."

 

"What would _you_ prefer me to do?" she challenged.

 

He gave her a Look.  "You know better than to ask me that."

 

"And what if I want to walk home all by myself?"

 

He paused.  Then, looking at her steadily, he said challengingly, " _Do_ you want to walk home all by yourself?"

 

Kaoru looked out at the dim sky, the dark, lonely looking streets, and thought about going the whole way with phantoms, whether real or imaginary, hiding in every shadow and rustle of wind.  "No," she admitted softly.

 

He smiled a little grimly, appearing to take no pleasure in his small victory.  "Would you prefer to ride in the back or the front?"

 

She hesitated.  Then she said, "The front."

 

He looked surprised, then pleased, then quickly ducked his head and hurried to open the door for her.

 

"I thought you had a chauffeur," she said skeptically when he had seated himself behind the wheel and was easing out.

 

"I do," he said, concentrating hard on his rearview mirror and maintaining a tight grip on the steering wheel.  Kaoru noted uneasily that he did not seem entirely comfortable handling the vehicle.  "But I was trying to draw as little attention as possible when leaving the castle, I wouldn't have wanted to make anyone wait all day while I visited, and Michiko-dono hates coming here, anyway."

 

"Why?  Is she jealous of Suoh-san?" Kaoru teased.

 

"Of course."

 

Kaoru stared at him.  "I was just joking!  Geez, are _all_ women in love with you or something?!"

 

He shot her a nervous look.  "This one can't help it...they come at me, I try to put them off as best I can...."

 

"You know, you really do," Kaoru said wonderingly.  " _Everyone_ loves you.  And you're too nice.  You're too nice, you know that?  It's why they can never fall _out_ of love with you."

 

He drove silently for a long time, with such ghosts in his expression that Kaoru was starting to wonder if she would ever find _anything_ to say to him that wouldn't lead to melodrama.  So she finally lost her temper.  "Will you stop that?!  Why can't you talk normal to me for once?!"

 

He laughed.  "Apologies."

 

"No!  That's not good enough!  For one thing, why can't you just say _Sorry_ , like a normal person?!"

 

He was giving her a wide-eyed, slightly frightened look.  "Kaoru-dono...."

 

"And stop with the soap opera dramatics!  I'm sorry about - about your wife, but _please_ , what with all the government conspiracies and magic fairy dust and heaps of flirty women, you're like some - some manga character or something!  Be normal for a change!  When was the last time you were normal?!"

 

He was staring at her again, looking as if he was seriously considering the question.  "Well...never."

 

" _Watch where you're driving_!!!"

 

Kenshin veered back into the road just in time to avoid plowing into someone's mailbox.  "Apologies."

 

Kaoru rubbed at her temples.  "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't be yelling, I'm being an idiot."

 

"Don't worry about it."

 

Kaoru glanced over at him again.  He was watching her, smiling a little, looking as content as a child hugging its favorite toy.  "Why do you like me so much?" she asked.

 

He jerked his eyes abruptly back to the road.  "Well," he said, sounding suddenly very adult and distant, "you're a very intelligent, spirited young lady, exactly the sort of person we keep an eye out for hiring."  His voice softened as he added, still staring firmly out the windshield, "Also...exactly like my wife is like.  This one misses her very much."

 

Kaoru swallowed.  She wanted to put out her hand to touch him, to comfort him, so she kept her hands firmly clasped in her lap.  Kenshin didn't seem like the type to give a double meaning to words like those, but you never knew.

 

Kenshin's voice returned to that distant brisk tone as he added, "Even if it turns out that you decide to part ways with Himura Castle as soon as you are financially independent, this one is certain your career will be impressive."

 

"All this Himura Castle stuff is a front, isn't it."

 

His eyes darted towards her, then away.

 

"You keep spouting all this school-and-career stuff, but all you really care about is getting your hands on Himura descendants and, what, using them as pawns in some kind of anti-government conspiracy?"

 

"It does sound bad, doesn't it," he said sheepishly.

 

Kaoru sighed.  "Kenshin...can you...can you please--  tell me about my family?  My real family?"

 

He looked over at her sympathetically.  "This one cannot tell you much."

 

"Cannot or will not?" she challenged.

 

He grinned that sheepish grin again.  "Your parents were good people," he said evasively.  "Your father was an honorable man, and very strong.  He loved your mother very much, yet he kept the will to live after her passing, and did his best to fulfill his duties and raise you well."

 

Kaoru blinked.  " _Raise_ me?"

 

"He only got so far," Kenshin added in a unconvincing-sounding rush.  "You don't remember him, of course; and your mother...your mother died when you were very small."

 

"And then you, what, came along and dropped me off with Mom and Dad-- with the Arais, right?"

 

"...Pretty much, yes.  Of course, they moved a few times, which threw this one off.  We were very happy to find that they had come back to the castle after all."

 

"Come back _to the castle_?"

 

Kenshin smiled a little at her.  "Don't you hear it call to you, Kaoru-dono?"

 

She was quiet, wondering how seriously to take him.

 

"You have...strong ties to Himura Castle.  Your mind may not remember, but your heart - and your magic - does.  Do you not think about it more often than most high school students think about musty old museums?"

 

 _'Yeah,'_ she did not say aloud, _'but I also think about the_ owner _way more than a high school girl has any right to think about a twenty-four-who-knows-how-old-year-old.'_   She frowned.  _'And if I end up falling in love with you, Mr. O'Neill Kenshin, I'll kill you!'_   She _refused_ to be yet another casualty on his annoying 'All the women are crazy about me' list.

 

"What are you thinking about?" he asked apprehensively.

 

"Why do you want to know?" she challenged.

 

"Well...your expression is a little frightening, that it is...."

 

She grinned.  "It's a secret."

 

"All right."

 

They had reached Kaoru's house by now, and she sighed a little as she unbuckled her seat belt.  A whole car ride alone with Kenshin, and she had barely learned a thing.  She kept letting herself get _distracted_ by him.

 

"Well," she said as he came around to say good-bye.  "Good night."

 

"...Good night," he said softly, gazing at her.

 

She lifted her chin.  "So, I'm going to leave now."

 

He blinked, then shook his head a little and smiled.  "This one will, as well.  Good night, Kaoru-dono."

 

"You said that already."

 

"Oro?"

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Huh, maybe I _was_ at least starting to get into Kingdom Hearts when I wrote the painting scene.  I can't remember. ^^;

 

To clarify, because I'm never going to actually write it now, Aya & Suzumi's mom is in love with Kenshin, but does not of course realize that he's her many-greats-grandfather (her jerk ex-husband is out of the picture by now).  She is fully aware that Kenshin's not interested in her romantically, she just hasn't managed to get over him yet.  I randomly picked "Suoh" as her surname.


	46. Chapter 46

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 7**

 

"...Kaoru-chan."

 

"Mm," Kaoru mumbled, still completely asleep.

 

"Kaoru-chan!"

 

The shaking grew more insistent, and Kaoru cracked her eyes open to find her mother bending over her, looking almost as bleary-eyed as she felt.  "Wha...?"

 

"It's a boy.  He wants to talk to you."  Mrs. Arai pressed the phone into Kaoru's hands and then stumbled out of the room, presumably back to bed.

 

Kaoru scrunched her nose up in confusion for a minute, then dragged the phone to rest against the side of her face.  "H'lo..?" she said, rather accusingly.

 

_"A-Arai...hey, I--  I need to talk to you."_

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Ishida-kun?" she said incredulously.

 

The next words came out in a rush.  _"Look, tonight's off, I'm sorry.  I had to call and tell you, but I don't want to ever talk to you again.  I'm sorry."_

 

" _What_?!"  She bolted upright in bed, but Yamato had already hung up.  Shocked, Kaoru double-checked her clock, which told her that it was six o'clock in the morning, a rather odd thing considering the fact that Yamato claimed to "sleep in" on weekends.  Furiously, Kaoru dialed his number, but got nothing other than what she was pretty sure was the sound of him picking up the phone and immediately dumping it back into its cradle.  "Ooooohhh!"

 

She was so angry that she felt like marching straight over to Yamato's house in her pajamas and chewing him out, but that was a ridiculous thing to do.  So she paced around her room like a caged bull for a while, then stormed down to make breakfast.

 

Happily for their health, no one remembered to eat breakfast when they switched on the television.  The chancellor had been assassinated just hours earlier.

 

 _'Ishida-kun,'_ Kaoru thought as she sat, stunned, with her parents, staring at the TV screen as if they could not believe their eyes.  _'Was this why you called it off?'_   It would have made sense, except for the note of terror in Yamato's voice and the 'I don't want to ever talk to you again' part.  _'What is going_ on _?!'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Kaoru-chan!"

 

Kaoru hurried to meet Mika at the school gates.  Her friend looked wide-eyed and frightened.  "Mika-chan!  Are you all right?"

 

"Yes.  I mean, as much as anyone is.  Did you know that half the students haven't shown up, and some of the teachers, too?  I stopped by Mimi-chan's house on the way to school, but she said her mom wants her to stay home.  Oh, Kaoru-chan!  Can you believe all this is happening?"

 

"It's...sudden," Kaoru said, though she was suddenly feeling sick.  _Bad things...to our enemies...._   Kenshin hadn't - Kenshin wouldn't _kill_ the chancellor, would he?

 

School was pretty pointless that day.  Only one of Kaoru's teachers attempted to carry on as usual, but the rest either had the news on or just sat and talked with the class about what had happened, or both.  Kaoru felt alternately numb and shaky, wondering if her parents were worried about her and if she should just go home.  _'But I have to...I have to at least talk to Ishida-kun...the world is falling apart, and I don't know what to....'_

 

There he was, trudging along to the cafeteria.  Kaoru blinked, looked around for the nearest clock, and realized it was lunchtime.  "Hey, Mika-chan - go save me a seat, all right?  I'll be back."

 

Yamato did not notice her until she had slipped through the cafeteria doors, was walking right next to him, and said, "Hi."

 

He jumped and shied away from her like a startled deer.  The pile of books in his arms went flying all over the floor.  "Arai?!  What are you doing here?"

 

Kaoru gestured around soberly.  "Mom and Dad were worried, but I really wanted to come to school today.  If nothing else, to talk to you."

 

"We have nothing to talk about, Arai!" he cried harshly, though from the direction of his panicked eyes, he seemed to be addressing the ceiling and the corners of the cafeteria rather than her.  "I told you, we're through."  He quickly knelt to snatch up the books that he had dropped - distracted, Kaoru glanced down and saw that a lot of them had weird fantasy covers, and titles like _Feast of Fair Folk_ , _An Encyclopedia of Mythical Creatures_ , or _The Little People: Faeries, Sprites, and the Other Realm_.

 

"You can at least tell me _why_!" she said in exasperation as she bent down to help him.  "Did the assassination really freak you out _that much_?"

 

"What...assassination?"

 

"You know, the assassination," Kaoru said pointedly.  "Or did you not hear that the chancellor _died_ last night?"

 

"Oh, yeah."  Yamato did not seem very interested in the subject.  Rather, he looked at the last of the books that Kaoru handed him and shuddered a little before adding them to the pile in his arms.

 

"So, you like fairies?" Kaoru said skeptically.  Something about this whole thing was weird (as if nothing else had been recently).

 

"I just...picked up a sudden interest," Yamato mumbled, looking more stressed out than embarrassed.  The two of them slowly stood up, staring at each other.  "Hey, Arai," he finally said, looking nervous.  "Are you...are you okay?  Not that I could help you AT ALL if you're in trouble," he added hastily, "but...I mean, are you in trouble?"

 

Kaoru blinked.  "I--  What?  Why would you ask that?"

 

Yamato drew in a deep breath.  "I've been reading like crazy all night," he said woodenly.  "They...um, they don't like salt."

 

" _Huh_?"

 

"It's a fae-bane - it hurts them, or some of the books say that you can use it to bind them or make barriers against them or something.  Crosses, too, at least for some of them; same with iron and sometimes silver, and there's also some kind of wood...rowan, I think?  But I don't even know what it looks like--"

 

"Ishida-kun, what are you _talking_ about?"

 

They stared at each other again.  "Arai," he finally said heavily, "I can't help you, it's too dangerous, and I'm really sorry about that.  But you're really in a mess with this...these fairies...and I'm just saying, if you haven't read up on this stuff yet, you probably should.  That fairy king is one creepy guy."  He shuddered.  "You know those pictures they keep trying to get of Battousai, where it looks like his eyes are _glowing_?  That guy has the same eyes."

 

"What are you _talking_ about?!  A fairy king?!"  Kaoru paused.  Well, she was one to talk, wasn't she?  "Are you saying a fairy king is after me?"

 

Yamato gulped and backed away.  The words tumbled out of him in a rush.  "Like I said, salt, crosses, silver, rowan, there's probably more I keep forgetting, but...Arai, I'm sorry!"

 

"Ishida-kun!" she yelled as he was rushing away.  He paused and glanced unhappily over his shoulder.  "Just - just tell me one thing.  You're not dumping me because of anything _I_ did, right?"

 

For the first time, he gave her a very small, but genuine smile.  "I still think you're cool, Arai.  I....  I'll keep reading up on this, _maybe_ I'll be able to find something that can help without me actually getting involved...."

 

She managed a weak little smile in return.  "Thanks."  There seemed to be nothing else to say, so Kaoru trudged away again to rejoin Mika.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Good morning, Kenshin!"

 

Kenshin, staring at the three simultaneously ringing phones on his desk and _really_ wishing that he didn't have to answer them, looked up to find the Faerie King lounging in the doorway, surrounded by most of the children in the castle.  "Enishi," he greeted dully.  "You seem unusually cheerful this morning, that you do."

 

Enishi grinned, shifting his young niece's weight so that he was carrying her more comfortably.  He could not in good conscience directly insult Himura Kenshin in front of a bunch of children who adored them both, but there were more roundabout ways of gloating.  "Heh, it usually puts someone in a good mood when a guy he doesn't like makes a complete fool of himself."

 

"...Is our past history the only thing that concerns you at a time like this?  A man died last night, Enishi," Kenshin said softly.

 

Enishi shrugged.  "After becoming head of a country that's really under Niisan's control?  It was only a matter of time."

 

Kenshin frowned, but the children were needing attention by then.  "Uncle Ken," the Sagaras' oldest daughter said worriedly, "is everything going to be okay?  All the grown-ups are running around like crazy, and we couldn't go to school today."

 

Kenshin only had to lean forward and lift his arms a little, and suddenly the children were crowding all around him.

 

"That broom-head guy got in a fight with Daddy this morning!"

 

"Yeah, Mom broke 'em up and now they're all yelling at each other...."

 

"Aunt Tomoe's, like, in a coma!  I tried to wake her up, but her bracelet bit me."

 

"Aya-nee and Suzumi-nee won't answer the phone!"

 

"Yeah, and one of the fairy ladies said that Kensuke-nii got grounded for trying to sneak out--"

 

"Uncle Ken, is Aunt Kaoru gonna be okay?"

 

"We should bring her here," Yahiko's seven-year-old asserted in frustration.  "I keep _telling_ everyone, and they say it's up to _you_ , Uncle Kenshin."

 

Kenshin sighed, holding the youngest in his arms and wistfully remembering when his own daughters had been her age.  "Ken-jii," the child said softly when she saw him looking at her, "Usa-chan's scared."  She lifted her stuffed bunny so that Kenshin could kiss it and hug her tighter.

 

"This one admits, we do have a problem right now," he said, so that most of the children hushed and looked at him intently.  No one had had the time or the heart to sit down and fully explain things to them.  "You all know that the chancellor passed away last night?"  Due to his own stupid, _stupid_ negligence.

 

"It was on TV," Katsu said, and grinned a little.  "Dad said some bad words when he saw it, and then Mom smacked him."

 

"Katsu, don't be stupid!" his sister scolded.  "The chancellor's _dead_ , you have to be serious!"

 

"Uncle Enishi's not being serious," Tomoe's daughter observed, looking uncertainly between Kenshin and the grinning Faerie King.

 

"There's nothing to worry about," Enishi told them, now lounging comfortably on the floor with Tomoe's other daughter curled up in his lap and Tsubame's daughter curiously trying to see if his spiky hair was braidable.  "The castle is _very_ well protected, and you've all got a bunch of big bad warriors to fight and keep you safe."

 

"Then why are all the grown-ups so mad and stuff?" Megumi's daughter challenged.

 

Enishi shrugged.  "They're scared of my brother.  Of Shishio."

 

"But Uncle Kenshin will punch him in the face, and everything will be okay again," Yahiko's son said proudly.

 

Kenshin shook his head with a little smile, and Enishi gritted his teeth.  "This hero-worship ticks me off _so much_ ," he grumbled, in such a low voice that only Kenshin heard.

 

"Hey," Tomoe's son said suddenly.  "You're the Faerie King, Uncle Enishi.  Why don't _you_ just blast Shishio to bits?"

 

"Hm, could I?" Enishi mused.  "Maybe.  But he's Oberon's son, too...it's not like he doesn't have magic of his own.  Besides," and here he raised his head to look each child directly in the eyes, "would you really want me to be killing my own brother?  It'd be like," he pointed at Katsu, "if _you_ tried to knock off Tsunan or something."

 

The kids were quiet for a moment, all looking at each other solemnly.

 

"But," Megumi's daughter said finally, "Tsu-kun isn't trying to take over the world."

 

"In any case," Kenshin finally said, "you children shouldn't worry about things like this, we're all taking care of it.  You're right, though, about Kaoru-dono and Kensuke and the girls...we should try to get them here as soon as possible."

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Yamato dumping Kaoru - think _Back to the Future_ , "Last night, Darth Vader came down from Planet Vulcan and said that if I didn't ask Lorraine to the dance, he'd melt my brain!"


	47. Chapter 47

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 8**

 

"Hello?  Kenshin?"

 

_"...Kaoru-dono...are you all right?"_

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Yeah, but - you sound really depressed."  She leaned back into her pillows, twirling the phone cord absently around one finger.  Her parents had picked her up early from school, but dinner had been such a somber, stressful affair that Kaoru had escaped to her room as soon as she could.  She found that she had been half-waiting for Kenshin to call.  "...Is it about this whole assassination thing?" she ventured nervously, wondering if he was involved.

 

 _"...Yes."_   He really did sound like his pet dog had just died or something.  _"This one made a terrible, stupid, careless mistake, and now he's...now he's dead."_

 

Kaoru blinked again.  "Wait a minute - are you saying that you could have _prevented_ the chancellor's assassination?!"

 

 _"Very likely.  His safety was one of the things we were keeping an eye on, after all.  The man may not have made an ideal leader, but he was the only thing keeping Shishio from full power."_   Kenshin's tone was slow and despondent, Kaoru could almost _see_ him beating himself up.

 

"This is crazy...Kenshin, what's going to happen now?"

 

_"...."_

 

"I don't like the sound of that."

 

_"Y-You could tell?!"_

 

"I could tell _what_?" she challenged.

 

_"Er...well...you see, um...you're probably not going to like this, but--"_

 

"You know what I don't like?" she growled, suddenly angry again.  "I don't like offending my own mother because I suddenly can't choke down her cooking."

 

_"Uh - pardon?"_

 

"It's the salt, isn't it."

 

_"Oh.  Does this, um...having anything to do with your...um...with that time you fell off the, uh, roof?"_

 

"You mean my sparkly magic powers?" she shot back.  " _Apparently_ so.  Ishida-kun said that salt was a 'bane' or something - if I'm turning into a _fairy_ , I guess it'd make _sense_ that I'd suddenly be allergic to _salt_."  Kaoru groaned, flopping over onto her stomach.  "This is so ridiculous....  Did you know, I've been trying to experiment, and I can actually turn things into gold now?  Sort of.  Just the surface, like when they put fake gold surfaces on jewelry and stuff.  And, like, I can't change it back - now I get glitter all over my hands every time I try to use my pencil."

 

 _"Mm.  This one, and Tomoe-dono especially, would be interested in anything you can discover about your magic as it develops."_   There was a slight pause.  _"Kaoru-dono, did you say that it was Ishida who told you about the fae bane?"_

 

"Yeah.  Would you believe it, he's researching fairies now."  A thought struck her.  "Hey, Kenshin...those enemies you were talking about - one of them wouldn't be a fairy king or anything, right?"

 

 _"Well, it depends."_   It felt weird, talking so matter-of-factly about this stuff.  _"The true Faerie King is on our side - mostly - and so is the former Unseelie Regent, but Shishio has a claim to the throne, as well, albeit a lesser one.  So part of our problem is--"_

 

"Wait a minute, are you telling me that VICE CHANCELLOR SHISHIO is in on all this, too?!  That he's a _fairy_?!"

 

_"Half.  His mother was human, but his father was the previous Faerie King, actually."_

 

"You know what, just stop.  I think my head is about to explode."  She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  It made her smile a little to hear Kenshin waiting patiently on the other end.  "I can't believe this....  So, what, Vice Chancellor Shishio turned up in Ishida-kun's room or something last night to tell him that he's stalking me--?"

 

_"W-What?!"_

 

"This is news to you?" Kaoru inquired with great interest.

 

_"Er...that is...we knew that the fae had made contact with Ishida last night, but Shishio - it can't have been him, he's was definitely at the capitol...and Enishi was with this one...I don't understand, that I do not."_

 

"Well, I don't know," Kaoru amended, thinking back over what she had said and what Yamato had told her.  "Ishida-kun just said that it was a fairy king with glowing eyes like Battousai's."

 

_"...Oh."_

 

"'Oh,' what?"

 

 _"Ah...it is clear to this one now."_   Kenshin sighed.  _"What a mess...."_

 

"So...am I really in danger, or no?"

 

 _"You are, Kaoru-dono."_   He answered so quickly that Kaoru realized somehow that this was the real reason why he had called her tonight.  _"Kensuke and the girls are, too, as well as their families, now that Shishio is in power."_

 

"What does Shishio care about an ordinary kid like me?" Kaoru asked, bracing herself.  "What's so special about the...about the Himuras, that bad guys would be after us?"

 

_"Well...to tell the truth, the main value you all have for him is your potential as hostages.  But now that you're developing magical powers, Kaoru-dono, this one fears even more for your safety, should our enemies ever get their hands on you."_

 

"Great."  Kaoru sighed.  "I guess you want to round us all up and squirrel us away in Himura Castle or something."

 

 _"...Pretty much, yes,"_ he said sheepishly.  _"Not that we would force you, but...do you have any good reason to refuse?"_

 

"I probably should, but I can't think of any at the moment."  Kaoru paused.  "So we'd be, like, _living_ there?  In a museum?"

 

_"The rest of us do."_

 

"Who's 'the rest of us'?"

 

He sounded a little amused as he said, _"Do you want the whole list?"_

 

"You can start it, at least.  I'll tell you when to stop."

 

_"All right.  There is this one, Sano and Megumi-dono and their children, Yahiko and Tsubame-dono and their children, Tomoe-dono and Akira and their children--"_

 

"You can skip the kids.  I assume there's a lot of them."

 

 _"There is,"_ he said happily.  _"It's nice to have them running around, actually...I miss my children, that I do."_

 

" _You_ have children?" Kaoru said in surprise.  This was an interesting development.

 

 _"...Yes.  Sort of."_   Kenshin's voice suddenly sounded heavy again.  Kaoru wondered in exasperation if she would _ever_ be able to stop triggering these mood swings of his.  _"I am not able to see my son very often these days, but he is strong and has made a good life for himself, that he has.  This one is very proud of him."_

 

The praise of his own family would have annoyed Kaoru if it hadn't, for some reason, triggered an answering glow of pride in her own chest.  _'For crying out loud,'_ she thought, _'did I know Kenshin's kids, too?'_   She touched the rose hidden under her shirt.  "You are, huh?" she said out loud.

 

There was a smile in his voice.  _"You would be, too, Kaoru-dono."_

 

"Did I know him?" she ventured.

 

_"...Yes.  He loves you very much, that he does."_

 

"He _does_?!"

 

Kenshin laughed.  _"Oh, yes - he loves you much more than he ever has this one."_

 

"Are - are you kidding me?!  Some guy I don't even remember loves me more than his own _dad_?!"  A horrible thought struck her.  "Uh...was he my boyfriend or something?"

 

 _"Your--?!"_   The note of shock in Kenshin's voice was reassuring.  _"No!  Of course not.  It...haha...it wasn't like that at all.  He had two wives, you know.  Um, neither of them were you."_

 

"Oh, good," she said without thinking, relieved.

 

 _"He outlived them both, though."_   Kenshin sighed.  _"It was after Kairi-dono's death that he retreated to Faerie for good."_

 

"To...Fairyland?  Your son is in Fairyland?"

 

_"Yes, as a favorite of the Queen.  It is why he's still alive now, when he should have died long ago - though I'm afraid that his time is finally drawing close, that it is.  This one will...will miss him terribly, when the time comes."_

 

Kaoru gulped.  "Um...what?"

 

Kenshin's voice was gentle as he tried to explain.  _"Kaoru-dono...this one's son and daughters were born a long, long time ago.  The girls both married mortals, and lived relatively normal lives...they died of old age long before your own parents were ever born."_

 

"..............Oh."  She paused to swallow.  "You know, I've asked you this before, but you weaseled out of it somehow.  ...How old are you, Kenshin?"

 

 _"..............Roughly 150 years._ Roughly _.  This one did not keep very careful track."_

 

"Ugh...'scuse me for a minute."  Kaoru put the phone down and got up to pace in agitation, pressing her palms against her skull as if trying to keep the thoughts inside.  When she felt sufficiently calmed down, she went back and picked up the phone again.  "Are you telling me that you've been around for _a century and a half_?!"

 

_"Sort of."_

 

"WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN?"  She was starting to lose her temper, and if he knew her so well, he _ought_ to also know that making Arai Kaoru lose her temper was a really bad idea.

 

He sighed, then said with a little trepidation, _"What this one means is, he has been_ alive _for about 150 years, but was born much longer ago than that."_

 

"AND WHAT THE HECK DOES _THAT_ \--?"

 

_"We've time traveled, you and I.  So have the rest of our allies, in a different sense."_

 

"...."

 

_"We had to.  Shishio had done it, traveling far into the future - to this present time - and the rest of us had to follow him, to prevent his evil.  Yet there is no going back - only the Faerie King and Queen are able to revisit the past.  For all else, there is no returning from the future.  This one brought you with him, and waited for the others to join us."_

 

"You.  Brought me with you."  _'What, what, it can't be true, it's ridiculous, I'm Arai Kaoru and I was born here and I'm a student at Azumano High School and I'm seventeen years old,_ I'm seventeen years old-- _'_

_"Yes.  You were born in the days when King Kamiya ruled, the days when Shishio Makoto - the very same man who is soon to become chancellor of this country - had seized power from the Himura line...when the Battousai of legends stained the streets with blood."_

 

"Kenshin."

 

He must have heard the wooden tone of her voice, the way her brain seemed to be jammed.  _"Forgive me."_

 

"...."

 

_"You did ask."_

 

"I'm going to hang up now."

 

_"...Good night."_

 

"GOOD NIGHT?!" she screamed, feeling as if she had been almost physically seized by panic and terror.  "When I find out I'm a billion years old and some evil fairy tyrant from a billion years ago wants to kill me?!?!?!"

 

_"You'll be safe, Kaoru-dono."_

 

That gave her pause.  "How?" she said suspiciously, her heart still beating fast.

 

_"Yahiko is on duty tonight, that he is.  This one will send others to join him.  Unless Shishio himself tries to come - and trust me, he is quite busy at the moment, in the wake of the chancellor's death - nothing will get through to harm you."_

 

"...You have a guard on my house."

 

_"This disturbs you?"_

 

"It should.  But you know what, having no one around would freak me out even more."  Kaoru threw the phone back into its cradle and pelted downstairs.

 

"Kaoru-chan?" her mother exclaimed in surprise as she dashed past the living room.  "What's wrong, darling?"

 

"Wanna check something outside, just a sec!"  Kaoru jammed her feet into her shoes, clawed open the locks on the door, and flung herself outside.

 

Night had long fallen.  The street lights and porch lights cast patches of harsh brightness on the ground, surrounded ominously by areas of pure black.  "Yahiko!" Kaoru screamed, too panicked to really think about what she was doing.  "Yahiko!  Yahiko!  Yahiko!"

 

The bushes separating her family's yard from the neighbors' suddenly rustled violently.  Kaoru screamed again, backing away in terror until she realized that the emerging figure was vaguely familiar.  "Y-Y-Yahiko?!" she stammered.

 

"Jooh, what is it?" the spiky-haired man said in alarm, gripping a sword in his hand and looking around wildly.

 

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME A _QUEEN_?!" she shrieked.  "YOU CALLED ME A QUEEN!  AAAGGGHH!  AAAGHHH!  AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"

 

"Will you _stop_ screaming?!" he hissed.  "Someone's gonna think I'm attacking you."

 

"There's an evil fairy gonna kill me...!!!"

 

Yahiko seized her arm and dragged her around the house, where he pushed her into one of the plastic chairs on the back porch and patted her head extremely awkwardly.  "Look, J--  Uh, Kaoru...-san...whatever...did something happen?  Did you get attacked?"

 

"How old are you?" she shrieked at him.

 

He looked startled.  "Huh?  What does that have to do with anything?"

 

Kaoru found herself seizing his collar and shaking him.  It felt strange - she barely knew the man, yet she did not feel uncomfortable yelling at him or manhandling him.  "ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

 

"Geez, I dunno," he complained, working himself free of her grip.  "Not counting the time when we were all asleep, I guess I'm...I dunno...forty, fifty?  I gave up keeping track....  I've been to Faerie a lot, anyway, and that's messed me up, so it's anyone's guess by now--"

 

"You're FORTY?!" she screamed at him.  "You look like a COLLEGE STUDENT!"

 

"Stop _yelling_!" he growled at her.  "You wanna attract any spy or Unseelie within earshot?"

 

Kaoru shivered, and then found that she couldn't stop.  "Y-Yahiko...I'm scared, I'm so scared."

 

"Hey."  He put a hand on her shoulder, his voice having gone surprisingly gentle.  "Kaoru, it's okay.  It's my job to protect you, see?  Look, Kenshin just texted me, he's sending backup."

 

Kaoru tearfully looked at the cell phone he showed her, which showed the message, _'sending reinf, told kd too much. shes upset so b careful'_

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said indignantly.

 

Yahiko grinned.  "Just in case you didn't know, you have a bad habit of getting into trouble when you're upset."

 

"That jerk," Kaoru wailed, though it was mostly out of the stress of the moment.  "Yahiko...I don't understand, I don't understand any of this...."

 

"You haven't figured out the rose thing yet?" he sighed.

 

"...No...I've been scared to try...but now I'm scared not to...."  She drew in a deep, wavering breath.  "I want to go inside now."

 

"Okay.  I'll walk you back to the front."

 

As she trudged along beside him, Kaoru suddenly looked over at his profile - she couldn't see much of it, but she knew that there wasn't a single wrinkle on that face.  "Yahiko...uh, -san...how come you look so young, when you say that you're forty or fifty years old?"

 

"Ugh, drop the '-san,' will you?  It's creepy."

 

"What should I call you, then?!"

 

"You've never used honorifics on me, okay?"

 

"Why?" she demanded.  "I don't even know you."

 

"Ouch!"  He pretended to clutch his heart in pain, then shook his head.  "What a thing to say to your loyal bodyguard, busu."

 

"WHATDJA CALL ME?"

 

He grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  "I called you ugly," he said affectionately.  "It was always fun to get a rise out of you.  Honestly...it's pretty great to be able to talk to you again, Jooh."

 

Kaoru stopped dead.  "I used to be a queen," she said woodenly.

 

Yahiko winced.  "Whoops...."

 

Kaoru gripped his collar and shook him again.  "What is going _on_ here?!  Why did Kenshin kidnap some queen out of history books and drag her to the present?!  Are Kensuke-kun and Aya-chan and Suzumi-chan all royalty, too, or something?!"

 

"No...well, sort of...I mean--"  He shook his head in frustration.  "They're your descendants, Kaoru.  The only ones we could find, anyway.  They were born here, in the present, but Shishio'd love to get his hands on any Himuras he can."

 

Kaoru shuddered.  All this was so unbelievable, yet--

 

She lifted her hand, concentrated hard, then watched as her skin slowly began to glow with light.  It looked much more impressive out here in the dark than it had earlier, when she had tried it in her room with the shades drawn.

 

"Whoa," Yahiko said, sounding a little awed.  "So you really are fey now.  Weird."

 

"You mean I wasn't a fairy before?" Kaoru wailed.  "This is so, so _stupid_...."

 

Yahiko sighed again.  "Kaoru, I know how tough this must be for you.  I'm sorry.  All I can do is protect you, and I swear to you that no one can get to you through me."  He paused.  "Except maybe Shishio himself, but, hey - that's Kenshin's job, and Kenshin's never lost a fight."

 

"Never lost a fight, huh?" Kaoru said dully.  "Even though he's been fighting for, what, a hundred years or so?"  She suddenly frowned and grabbed Yahiko's collar again.  "Stop dodging my question!  How come you don't look much older than me?"

 

Yahiko tilted his head.  "Huh?  I dunno....  Lady Tomoe's potion, but I have no clue how it works, I just drink it every now and then and age backwards.  Or something like that."  He shrugged.  "Kinda sucks actually, 'cause I have to keep re-training my muscles, but whatever; at least I can still fight like I did when I was at my peak.  In any case, we'll get to drop the whole immortality thing once Shishio's taken care of."

"I see," Kaoru sighed, even though she didn't see at all.  "I can't believe this...I just can't...."

 

"Make your necklace work.  That's all I can tell you, busu."

 

Kaoru frowned and slapped him upside the head.  "Hey, did I have any insulting nickname I got to call you back?"

 

Yahiko grinned.  "Nah.  You just gave me nasty assignments whenever you got really fed up with me."

 

"I see."  Kaoru found herself grinning back, though her face felt stretched and tight from all the conflicting emotions still running through her.  "Maybe this stupid queen business isn't all bad."

 

The front door opened, revealing Kaoru's parents peering out at them curiously.  "Kaoru, who is this person?" her father asked, sounding a little suspicious.

 

"Uh...this is Yahiko," Kaoru stammered.  "Yahiko-kun," she hastily corrected, not wanting her parents to wonder why she was on such familiar terms with the guy.  "He's a...friend.  He was just passing by, and I wanted to talk to him."

 

"Oh," her mother said uncertainly.  "Well, Yahiko-san, would you...like to come in for a moment?"

 

"Nah, I'd better get back to work," Yahiko said, and bowed.  "You all be careful."  He eyed Kaoru and added in a murmur that her parents probably could not hear, "Keep the doors and windows locked and stuff - might not help much, but it can't hurt.  And whatever you do, don't _invite_ anyone in."

 

"Why--?"

 

"Just don't."  Yahiko bowed again and walked away, presumably to the street, though Kaoru very much hoped that he would actually circle around and come back to guard the house.  She peered through the dark, wondering if Kenshin's reinforcements would show up soon - and was startled to find a glimmer here and there, as of watching eyes.  Nervously, she stared harder, and to her astonishment, she found that whatever she focused on grew a little clearer despite the dark.  _'Thanks, Magic,'_ she thought in relieved annoyance.

 

There _were_ new people...and things...hanging around now.  Little bird-like creatures that were definitely not birds, because real birds should have been asleep at this hour, and a dog-like figure moving softly along the fence.  She glimpsed a fair-haired, one-armed man heading soundlessly in Yahiko's direction.

 

"Kaoru-chan?"

 

Kaoru turned back to her parents and realized that they were completely oblivious to the guards.  "Oh...sorry."

 

"Are you all right, Kaoru?" her father asked in concern.

 

"I'm fine, Dad."  She shivered.  "Let's go in now."

 

Once inside, she went straight to the computer and began looking up queens named 'Kaoru,' with a tight feeling in her chest as she did so.

 

To her surprise, there were several.  "Queen Kaoru III, widowed within a year of her marriage, never remarried or had kids," she mumbled under her breath, scanning the information on the most promising-looking of the Web sites she had pulled up.  "Invention of the telegraph, blah blah blah, Jubilee Celebration...dang, she's old...."

 

There was quite a lot of information on Kaoru III, which meant that this was probably the Queen Kaoru that she had heard about in her history classes and been teased about during junior high school because of the shared name.  It took so long, reading enough for Kaoru to determine that this was not what she was looking for, that her parents started getting ready for bed and began urging her to do the same.

 

"Mom, it's for school," Kaoru insisted, half-truthfully.  She had been assigned a history research project the week before, and to tell the truth, Kaoru had not really gotten around to starting it yet.  She could very easily switch her topic to the Queen Kaoru she was looking for.

 

"Well...all right," Mrs. Arai said doubtfully.  "Just don't stay up too late, you've got school tomorrow."

 

"I know.  I won't."

 

Back to the queens.  Kaoru II went back much farther, before automobiles or telegraphs or anything had been invented yet.  She'd been married to a guy from the neighboring Western Japan, back when the two countries had only been newly-united and things hadn't settled down yet.  The king was really cute for those days, but he had apparently ruined the country before he was forcibly ousted from the throne in favor of his much younger brother-in-law.

 

"Blah blah," Kaoru sighed, blinking a little to clear her vision.  Most of the information was on the cute-but-idiotic husband; the queen seemed to be another of those background figures that no one heard much of.  "Let's see, where's the first Kaoru, then - oh."  Grandmother of Kaoru II.  Princess of Western Japan, queen of the united Japan when the two countries had been brought together by her husband....

 

"Kenshin," Kaoru whispered.  Her body seemed to go numb, and she just sat there for a very long time, staring at the computer screen without seeing it.  Could it be possible?  No, no, of course not, the thought was ridiculous; but....

 

King Kenshin.  Queen Kaoru.

 

"Pictures."  She began to search, almost frantically, and nearly sobbed in horror when she found a portrait of the two rulers.  It was the Kenshin she knew, no mistake, complete with the scar and the bright red hair.  The queen, though much older, had a disturbingly familiar look.

 

After angsting for a while, Kaoru suddenly realized that the images she found had been 'courtesy of the Himura Castle gallery.'

 

"Himura Freaking Castle again!"  Kaoru shouted.  Furiously, she began searching for more pictures.

 

It was frustrating - there did not seem to be a single image of the ancient Kenshin and Kaoru that did not come from the official gallery, and there were very few of them.  Also, to Kaoru's mingled puzzlement and relief, there seemed to be a lot of Kenshins.  That is, lots of different people who looked remarkably like him, and even several with the same name, just as there had been more than one Kaoru.

 

King Kenji I, son of Kenshin and Kaoru, could have been almost an exact replica of his father except for the darker hair and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes...and the fact that his scar was very tiny.  "Eh?"

 

They _all_ had scars, actually - all of Kenji's sons, or at least the three that she could find pictures of; Kenshin II, Kenshin III and IV way down the line, and all the Kenjis and Kensukes and such in between.  Each Himura male had a cross-shaped mark on his left cheek, though the sizes differed wildly.  (Each Himura male was also invariably good-looking, which Kaoru really hoped was due to the usual idealism in portraiture.)  "What the _heck_?!"

 

More clicking around, highly frustrating until it occurred to her to try "cross-shaped mark" instead of "cross-shaped scar."  This finally yielded an interesting bit of information.

 

"'One whimsical element of Himura legend,'" Kaoru read slowly, "'was the belief that all male descendants of the original king bore a distinctive cross-shaped birthmark on the left cheek.  Consequently, in all official portraiture, Himura kings are portrayed with the symbolic status-mark.  There has been no consensus on the origins of such a tradition.  However, scholars suggest that the Himura Birthmark legend is strongly linked to the folklore traditions of the early Himura monarchs.'  Uh huh."  Kaoru chewed on her lower lip.  "So what about Kensuke-kun?  If he's supposed to be the last male Himura descendant, shouldn't he have a mark, too?"

 

Here she was, getting distracted again.  "Kenshin," she growled softly.  "I really, really hope this isn't what I think it is, because I'll...."  She would what?  Kaoru went back to the original portraits of the first Kenshin and Kaoru.  "Kenshin," she whispered softly, touching the screen.  There was just no way around it...it was him.  She could tell from the expression, mostly...a strangely comforting mix of sorrow and kindness, weariness and hope.  So Kenshin really was a king from the far past, who had come--

 

Kaoru suddenly choked as a horrible thought occurred to her.  Then she began typing madly.

 

 _Shishio Makoto._   King of Eastern Japan for about twenty years.  At least, king of a sort - he had seized the throne in a bloody _coup d'état_ and had ruled the nation as a tyrant until his death on a visit to the Western kingdom.  Those had been the days of the original Battousai, the assassin whose very name had struck terror in the hearts of all who heard it.

 

Kaoru suddenly shivered, and could not seem to stop for several minutes.  If Kenshin really was the real King Kenshin I, very much alive in her own world...if Vice Chancellor Shishio was, as Kenshin had claimed, the very same tyrant out of the history books...what reason was there to think that the assassin Battousai was safely dead and buried?

 

"It can't be...it can't be...."  The real Battousai, stalking the streets of her own city, his bloody sword performing its work with no mercy once again.

 

Wait.  If that was true, then why did Battousai always attack government targets, when he was supposed to work _for_ Shishio in the old days?  How come there had been no confirmed reports of a true death at Battousai's hands?

 

"It's a different Battousai," Kaoru told herself firmly.  "The old one really is dead - this guy's just some crazy knockoff like everyone keeps saying.  Stop getting _distracted_!"

 

There was not a lot of useful information on the historical Shishio - the few chunks of it seemed to be endlessly repeated on all the Web sites (which were a bit hard to find between all the junk about the modern Shishio Makoto).  It basically boiled down to:  Shishio Makoto, tyrant king of Eastern Japan, traveled to Western Japan for a marriage contract and died there, at which time the Himura heir conveniently resurfaced and took back control of Eastern Japan.

 

A marriage contract?

 

Heart pounding again, Kaoru double-checked the dates.  Queen Kaoru I, still just a princess at the time when Shishio ruled, would have most likely been the bride in question.  Although her father and some information about his reign was available, there was nothing on her mother except the name and a brief note about her death, and there was no mention of siblings.

 

Kaoru suddenly felt like she was about to throw up.  Flinging herself away from the computer, she fled outside again, trying her hardest to stop thinking.  "YAHIKO!!!!"

 

This time he was at her side instantly, stifling the scream that nearly ripped out of her at the suddenness of his appearance.  "I _told_ you, quit _yelling_!  None of Shishio's goons are around, but your neighbors are gonna think something's up and they'll call the police!"

 

" _Don't say that name,_ " Kaoru hissed violently.

 

"What?"

 

"Shish--  _Don't say that name_!"

 

"Okay.  Fine.  As long as you shut up."

 

Kaoru and Yahiko stared at each other, her shaking, he looking perplexed.  "Hey...Kaoru...what's going on?  Why are you so upset?  Is Kenshin being stupid again?"

 

"Don't say HIS name, either," Kaoru snarled.  "Do something to distract me!"

 

Yahiko blinked.  "What?"

 

" _I don't want to think about anything important_!"

 

Kaoru jerked away when she suddenly felt a feather-light touch on her shoulder.  "The little girl's upset," said the creature that had landed on her.

 

Kaoru shuddered.  "Who are you?" she said through clenched teeth.

 

"Heh...call me Moth."

 

Carefully, Kaoru nudged the thing into her hands and then stood staring at it for a while.  It looked like a very dark-skinned, mostly naked little fairy, with moth-like wings and golden eyes that practically glowed.  It sat comfortably on her joined palms and gazed at her - she wasn't quite sure what to make of the tiny set of bow and arrows slung around its body.  "Hi," she finally said.

 

"Hello.  Why are you making such a big fuss?"

 

Kaoru sat down miserably on the porch, still cradling the fairy-thing in her hands as Yahiko looked around uneasily.  "I don't feel good...the more I find out, the more scared I get...I just don't want to _think_ about all this anymore."

 

"Lady Tomoe tells us you can do magic now," Moth said.  "Show, please?"

 

Kaoru drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out.  "All right.  So far I can turn things into gold - fake gold - and I can make my skin glow a little, and _apparently_ I can float, though I'm not about to start jumping off buildings on purpose to test it out...."

 

Demonstrating her new skills for the little fairy, Kaoru's fear seemed to recede somewhat into the back of her mind.  She kept her concentration firmly on what she was doing, and tried not to think about how hard it would probably be to go to sleep later on.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  This fic turned out to be nothing like I'd planned.  I was totally unprepared for how much exposition I'd be forced to juggle, between trying to keep everything almost solely in the amnesiac Kaoru's POV and making up for the huge time gap between _The Sleeping Prince_ and _Immortality_.

 

 **The text message was a mistake - I'd forgotten that it's anachronistic; texting is not supposed to have been invented yet.**   However, I'll leave it in because I like Kenshin's lazy texting style. ^^;

Uhhh...also just remembered that the Internet research is a bit anachronistic, too. *headdesk*  Whatever, I don't care anymore.

 

To clarify, Kenshin was jealous of Yamato and went to scare him into staying away from Kaoru, and because he was distracted doing that, Shishio seized his chance, so now Kenshin's beating himself up about it.

 

LOL, there is a very good chance I will someday come to regret impulsively shipping Kenji/Kairi, but whatever. XD  (Ftr, I did that just now.  The original draft from a long time ago just had "*name*" in there, so I had to come up with one before posting.)

 

**Yahiko calling Kaoru "Jooh" was a stupid, stupid, STUPID mistake that messed up the entire rest of the fic, but I no longer have the time or energy to fix it.**

 

**I think I had some plan to have Kenshin either disguise his birthmark, or make up some story about how he adores Himura Castle so very much that he permanently cosplays as a Himura or something, but I doubt I'll ever get around to fixing that now.**


	48. Chapter 48

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 9**

 

"Kaoru-chan!"  Aya and Suzumi actually jumped up and came hurtling all the way across the restaurant to glomp Kaoru as soon as she set foot in the door with her parents.  "We're soooo glad you're okay!"

 

"I'm fine," Kaoru grumbled, looking around in embarrassment.  She had not entered such a swanky place in her _life_.

 

"Oh!  Who are your friends, Kaoru-chan?" Mrs. Arai asked.

 

"Uh...well, this is Suoh Aya-chan and Suzumi-chan - they're friends of Ken-- Mr. O'Neill's," Kaoru explained.  "Guys, this is my mom and dad.  And my brother, Iori."

 

"We're so happy to meet you!" the twins chimed together.  Suzumi tickled Iori under the chin, making him laugh, and Aya ruffled his hair.  Then they seized Kaoru's hands and dragged her over to the table where Kenshin, Natsue, Keiko, Kensuke, and a man whom Kaoru didn't know where already sitting.  Kenshin and the stranger rose to greet them, Natsue inclined her head stiffly, and Kensuke kept slouching in his chair and playing with a straw, not showing any sign that the Arais existed.

 

"Kaoru-dono, it's good to see you," Kenshin said with genuine happiness, pausing slightly at her glare.  "Arai-dono, this one is so glad you all could make it here tonight."

 

"I'm surprised our schedules allowed it," Natsue commented sourly, picking at an appetizer and looking as if she wanted to be somewhere else.

 

"Kensuke-kun!" the twins scolded, practically dragging the boy out of his chair, "Say hi to Kaoru-chan!  Look, she brought her mom and dad, too!"

 

"Leave me alone," the boy complained.  Kaoru stared at his left cheek, but could not detect anything out of the ordinary.

 

"Kensuke-kun, it's nice to meet you again," Mrs. Arai said bravely.  "That's such a nice suit you have on."

 

"Oh, _Kensuke_ ," Natsue said in exasperation, her tight expression indicating that she was holding back what she really wanted to say.

 

" _What_ , Mom?"  Kensuke brushed a few stray bread crumbs off his pants and otherwise ignored her.  "Hi, Baasan," he said to Kaoru, wrinkling his nose a little as if he wasn't thrilled to see her.

 

The Arais burst into laughter, Kaoru fumed, and Natsue looked mortified.

 

"Now, Kensuke, that's rude," the man said.  He bowed to the Arais in both greeting and apology.  "Forgive my son his bad manners.  I am Himura Takashi, and I'm pleased to meet you.  Mr. O'Neill here tells me that you're good friends of his."

 

"Well, I wouldn't go quite that far," Mr. Arai stammered, even as Kaoru leveled a pointed look at the slightly embarrassed-looking Kenshin.

 

"Sit down, sit down!" the girls urged, Aya pulling out a chair for Mrs. Arai and Suzumi snagging a waiter to ask for a high chair for Iori.  "We ordered for you already, we hope that's okay!"

 

"Don't worry, you'll like it!"

 

"That's...that's fine," Kaoru's father said uncomfortably.

 

As if he could read Mr. Arai's mind, Kenshin put in smoothly, "Remember, everything is this one's treat, so please don't hesitate to order anything you like.  Though," he smiled at Aya and Suzumi, who beamed back, "the girls have excellent taste, so you will be perfectly safe to trust them, that you will."

 

With so many people at the table, conversation did not prove to be a problem, even though Natsue and Kensuke seemed to be unsuccessfully doing their best to dampen the mood.  Mr. Himura seemed practiced at softening Natsue's condescending complaints and Kensuke's surly childishness.  Keiko proved equally adept at smoothing down her daughters' exuberance, and Mrs. Arai navigated the conversation to waters that everyone could contribute to (not just the rich people).  Kenshin, of course, somehow managed to make every single person in the group feel at ease.

 

"Terrible thing, about the chancellor," Mr. Arai remarked at one point.

 

"He was a good man," Natsue said immediately.  "Our nation will be sorely troubled in his absence."

 

"Yeah, definitely," Kensuke put in, looking angry.  "Now an evil warlord's going to rule the world.  I keep telling you, Mom, you need to let me practice more!"

 

"Schoolwork before hobbies," Natsue said curtly.  "Besides, your kendô has nothing to do with the chancellor or important politicians."

 

"But Kensuke-kun is really good!" the girls insisted.  "If he gets as good as Ken-jii, he can help fight!"

 

"Fight against what?" Kenshin said quellingly, sounding more as if he was warning them away from the topic rather than asking a question.  Kaoru shivered and reminded herself again to stop thinking.

 

"You children make it sound like a war," Keiko laughed, as if the idea was silly.  "Poor darlings, I know it's upsetting, but don't worry.  They're saying that the poor vice chancellor is recovering surprisingly well from the attack - they're even saying he might be able to be sworn in as the new chancellor after all."

 

"But that's the _problem_!" Kensuke insisted, though the others talked over him.

 

"I can't believe that poor man is still alive," Mrs. Arai murmured.  "Even if he's recovering, the burns must be terrible.  Did you see the photos they took of what was left of the building?"

 

"I wonder why they've got a 'Regent' acting as temporary chancellor," Mr. Arai was saying at the same time, frowning.  "I don't understand why they don't just swear in the next guy on the list."

 

" _Obviously_ they are hoping for the vice chancellor to make a complete recovery," Natsue put in haughtily.  "The man's certainly more than capable of running the country, and personally, I'd rather see him in office than some nobody who hasn't earned the job."

 

"But a _regent_!" Aya protested.  "Isn't anybody worried about that?"

 

"Yeah!" her sister piped up.  "A regent is what they call someone who's taking over for a _king_!"

 

Keiko laughed warningly.  "Don't be silly, girls.  We're in the twentieth century, not a history book.  The man's just keeping an eye on things until the vice chancellor's condition is more certain, that's all."

 

"In any case," Mr. Himura mused, "I can't say I'm pleased with how things have been going lately, what with all the extra police in the streets and this new curfew business."

 

"The curfew's _awful_!" Suzumi said unhappily.  "We have to go straight home from school, we can't even stop by anywhere on the way home anymore!"

 

"Children your age should be concentrating on their studies, not wasting time and causing trouble," Natsue said severely.

 

"Hanging out with friends is _not_ wasting time," Kensuke snarled, suddenly tipping his chair straight (he had been leaning back in it before).  "If kids work, work, work all the time, we go crazy!"

 

" _You_ ," Natsue snapped back, "seem to do this as a hobby, not as a result of too much work."

 

Kaoru, who was taking every opportunity to watch Kensuke closely, suddenly noticed it when the boy turned his head toward the light - a very faint cross-shaped mark had appeared on his left cheek, difficult to see unless one was watching for it.  Kaoru was sure the mark had not been there before.

 

"The boy has a point, though," Mr. Himura said soothingly.  "All work and no play, as they say...."

 

"I think children should be allowed to play," Mrs. Arai said, patting Iori affectionately.

 

"I agree," put in Mrs. Suoh.  "I remember being a student myself...."  She smiled at Kensuke, who looked away.  "Sometimes I felt so trapped, too."

 

"Yeah, whatever...."

 

"Kensuke!"

 

"Kensuke, don't be rude."

 

"Come on, Kensuke-kun, straighten up!"

 

"Yeah, be a gentleman!"

 

"Ow!  Hey, don't poke me!"

 

The mark was gone now, to Kaoru's astonishment.  Did it only show up when the boy was angry, or experienced some strong emotion?

 

As everyone talked, Kaoru looked over at Kenshin, who had turned his head to look at her in the same moment.  He smiled at her uneasily, but stopped when she did not return it.  "So," she said, speaking quietly under the sound of the general conversation.  "Any particular reason why you called all the last of the Himuras together?"

 

Kenshin kept gazing into her eyes, until Kaoru thought that she would drown in his.  She shook herself and looked away, her heart pounding.  "This one wants so badly to keep you all safe," he murmured, and she knew that he really meant it.  "Kaoru-dono...."

 

She never knew what he meant to say next, because that's when her world shattered yet again:  a group of policemen suddenly burst through the door of the restaurant and marched straight over to their table.  Kenshin and Kensuke rose at once, visibly bristling, as Aya and Suzumi backed away with terrified expressions and the adults all just sat there, staring in astonishment.

 

"Ken O'Neill, also known as Himura Battousai, you are under arrest--"

 

"Over my dead body!" Kensuke screamed.  He swept up his chair and flung it at the men, who scattered.

 

"He's resisting!" they started shouting.  "Get them!"

 

Then it was utter chaos.  "Sôjirô, get them out of here!" Kenshin shouted as he held out his hand.  A trollish-looking figure appeared out of nowhere and tossed a sword into Kenshin's waiting grip, at which point he plunged into battle.  A bunch of fantastic figures had also materialized - as had a small army of policemen.  Uniformed officers clashed with fierce-looking fae as screaming restaurant patrons scattered in every direction.

 

Kaoru watched, frozen, as Sagara and a feisty-looking girl with a long braid and fairy wings yanked the astonished parents out of their seats and shoved them away.  "Kensuke, you idiot, get over here!" Sagara bellowed as he propelled a shrilly-protesting Natsue after the others.

 

"I'm gonna kill you!" Kensuke was shrieking, slashing furiously at a policeman with fistfuls of steak knives as the man struggled to simultaneously dodge and draw his weapon.

 

"Kensuke-kun, he'll shoot you!" Kaoru found herself screaming frantically.  She had taken several steps forward, but was restrained by a hand on her arm.  She looked around wildly to find a boyish-looking person smiling a little as he held her politely but implacably.

 

"Your pardon, Kaoru-san, but I need to get you out of here.  Kenshin-san can't escape until you and the others are safe."

 

"Get off me!" she snarled, shaking her arm but unable to get loose.  There was a huge crash - she looked back to find that one of the large windows had been broken - BY AN ENORMOUS HAND, which was now groping closer and closer.  Kaoru screamed, riveted in horror as the hand closed around Kensuke, and the policeman he had been fighting fell back in terror.

 

"Fuji!  Let GO, you MORON!" the boy howled, struggling madly.  The enormous hand took no notice, merely drawing him carefully back out through the window, with Kensuke yelling furiously all the way.

 

"HE TOOK HIM!" Kaoru screamed.

 

"Not to worry, Fuji-san is on our side," the young man beside her said soothingly.  "Now, if you'll forgive me...."  He swept her up into his arms and suddenly broke into such an insanely fast run that Kaoru literally couldn't breathe for a moment.

 

"Ugh...gah...pu'me... _down_...!"

 

The boy came to an abrupt halt.  "Hm...."

 

Kaoru looked around in disorientation to find that they were outside now, a block away from the restaurant (she could still hear the fighting from here), and that there was an ominous figure harshly shadowed in the street light just ahead of them.

 

"The girl," it croaked in a chilly whisper, "the girl...."

 

"Sorry, but you can't have her," Kaoru's abductor/rescuer said cheerfully.  There was a blur of movement, and suddenly the awful, inhuman figure was in three bloody pieces on the ground.

 

Kaoru screamed again.

 

"Kaoru-sa--"  The boy whipped around as a dozen small figures flew at him out of the darkness, yelling lustily.

 

For a long moment, Kaoru just stood there, staring in disbelief as the boy danced about amid what looked like a crowd of lean, muscly armored dwarfs, killing them with swift, graceful, gruesome efficiency.  Then she began to edge away.

 

"Kao--!" he started to call after her, but broke off with a sudden choking gasp.  A policeman, thankfully human this time, had stepped up out of the night and flung some sort of glittering dust into the young man's face.  He managed to blindly fend off two of the dwarfs that leaped at the opportunity of his distraction, but then suffered a graze and then a more serious cut from four others.

 

Kaoru ran.

 

There was nowhere to run but back towards the restaurant, so she did, determinedly avoiding looking at the sky, where the sense of that giant towering far over their little battle was making the flesh of her back creep.  She did not like the idea of running straight into the fighting, so she looked around frantically for an escape, and was suddenly pounced on from behind.  She screamed as the force of the attack flung her to the ground; then she was silent from having the breath knocked out of her, eyes watering from the pain in her chin, which had cracked against the concrete and was now bleeding steadily.

 

"Got her!" a gleeful little voice hissed above her; then, "Oh no you don't!" and someone else plowed into the creature on her back.

 

Kaoru scrambled to her feet and backed away in horror, watching as a one-armed man with cat-like eyes straddled the shrieking goblin-thing and slit its throat with one calm swipe.

 

Kaoru was too terrified to scream now.  She whirled and ran again, this time into the first path she saw.

 

It was a dark alley.  She tripped on pieces of garbage that littered the ground and fell, cutting her hands and knees open, too.  It was pitch-black.  Sobbing quietly, she pushed herself back to her feet and stumbled on, her heart in her mouth as she kept her hand lightly along the wall and then stumbled over a warm, squashy lump that grunted at the disturbance.  "Whazzat...?"

 

Kaoru clapped a hand over her mouth and kept going, hoping that whomever she had just walked over was too drunk or stoned to follow her.

 

Sudden light, at the end of the alley, which was startlingly close.  More policemen, with a huge, unchained dog - Kaoru screamed again when the dog suddenly morphed upwards into the shape of a man and grinned a nasty, toothy grin at her.  "That's the one."

 

_To be continued...._


	49. Chapter 49

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 10**

 

She couldn't stop shivering.  _'I'm in jail.  I'm in jail.  I'm in a freaking_ jail cell _, with bars and I'm trapped and I didn't_ do anything _....'_   To her surprise, they didn't make her wait long.  Sort of.  She had only been in the jail cell for about ten minutes when they pulled her out again and walked her out to a car and drove somewhere and dragged her out again, then brought her up to what looked like someone's office, into which they locked her.  She knew because she tried to open the door and all the windows, and they wouldn't budge.

 

Then she was apparently forgotten for a couple of hours.

 

Kaoru curled up under the desk and hugged her knees, unable to decide whether to cry or to manfully hold back tears.  At first, she thought she'd done enough crying for one night, and tried hard to act like an adult; but then the terror and confusion and the plain unfairness of it all got to be too much for her, and no one could see her, anyway.  She pressed her face against her knees and sobbed.

 

There was only so long one could cry, though.  Eventually, Kaoru climbed out from under the desk and wandered despondently around the room, looking around.

 

There was nothing personal about the place, no photographs or unfinished paperwork or anything; just some generic, boring-looking books on the shelves, and various office supplies and blank forms in the drawers.  The carpet looked and felt clean.  The furniture, when she experimentally moved it aside, had made deep depressions, so apparently they hadn't been moved for a while.

 

The view from the window was unexpectedly calming.  Kaoru stood there for a long time, watching the two visible stars twinkle calmly in the violet city sky, watching the cars on the highway flow along like lifeblood in the city's veins, staring down at the sidewalks and wishing so, so badly that she could be free.  "Dad...Mom...."  She slid slowly into a crouch, pressing her face into her hands.  "K...Kenshin...."

 

The door opened.

 

Kaoru scrambled to her feet and stared warily at the officer who entered.  "I didn't do anything," she said shakily.  "I don't have anything to do with Batt--"  The name caught in her throat, because they had come to arrest Kenshin for being Battousai.  _'No, nonononono....'_   "Y-You have to let me go."

 

The officer said nothing for a long time, merely stood in the middle of the room, surveying her coolly.  Kaoru's cheeks flushed, though she didn't think the expression on his face was lustful or anything.  Rather...it reminded her strangely of the looks she had been getting before, when everyone at Himura Castle had seemed to inexplicably know her.  The only difference was that those looks had all been incredulous and delighted - this guy looked as if he had been expecting her, and wasn't exactly impressed with what he now saw.

 

 _'Yeah?'_ she thought defensively.  _'Well, you're not exactly eye candy yourself.'_   The flesh of his face seemed to be too thin, throwing the cheekbones into stark prominence.  His black hair was slicked back, except for a few strands that fell down into his face; his eyes were disturbingly wolfish.

 

Then he smiled, with an utter lack of humor.  "Kamiya Kaoru.  The chancellor's been looking forward to seeing you."

 

Kaoru swallowed, feeling like she was about to cry.  _Kamiya_.  That had been her family name, that princess of Western Japan.

 

That had also, terrifyingly, been what everyone at Himura Castle kept calling her at first.

 

"I'm Arai," she insisted, wishing that she could get her voice above a whisper.  "My name is Arai Kaoru.  I'm just an ordinary girl.  There's nothing special about me.  The chancellor can't have any interest in me...please."  That last was a desperate plea, though why she should feel as if she might expect a speck of mercy from this cold-eyed enemy was beyond reasoning.

 

Unsurprisingly, he was completely unmoved.  "This way.  And don't get any stupid ideas, because there's no way you can escape."

 

Kaoru bit her lip, knowing that he was right.  Turning things into fake gold, glowing in the dark, floating...this magic seemed to be pretty useless no matter how you looked at it.  What was the point of turning into a fairy if it wasn't any help in a horrible situation like this?

 

Kaoru was marched down quiet, elegant corridors until they reached a set of large double doors made of thick, sturdy, beautifully-carved wood, which were opened with a slight flourish.  Kaoru was ushered almost politely inside, where she stopped dead at the sight of the frightening figure waiting to greet her.

 

Completely swathed in bandages, looking entirely out of place for the huge lush office, the man sitting behind the desk smiled.  "Well.  Long time no see, and all that."

 

Kaoru stared at those cold, cold eyes, rigid with horror.  Something about this man had her wanting to scream at the top of her lungs and run for her life, yet her legs seemed almost too weak to even hold her up.  "Who...Who are you?" she whispered.  There was a soft click as the door closed behind her.  She looked around wildly to find that everyone else had left, and she was alone with this nightmarish figure.

 

"Eh?  How rude, Princess," the man said casually, propping his chin on his fist as he grinned.  "Not recognizing your own vice chancellor, not to mention your one-time husband-to-be."

 

That was the last straw for her legs.  Kaoru collapsed to sit on the floor, stunned.  "Wh...What?"  She couldn't believe it.  "It can't be...you can't be...!"

 

"Oh, don't let the bandages fool you."  He stood up and stretched, and came sauntering around the desk towards her.  Kaoru scrambled away towards a chair and tried to use its support to haul herself up.  "I've had these burns for...heh, for centuries, depending on how you look at it.  It's only the glamour that gave me my great good looks again."

 

There was something horrifying about the way he briefly flashed to the vice chancellor's appearance, the healthy and coldly handsome image that Kaoru had seen on television and in magazines for years.  For a moment, he looked like the Vice Chancellor Shishio she knew - in the next instant, it was back to the bandages, with dark, heavily scarred skin peeping out in the spaces around his eyes and mouth.

 

"You...there was a fire," Kaoru stammered dumbly.  "The chancellor...you were hurt...."

 

Shishio waved his hand dismissively.  "That fool's time was up the moment everything was ready.  Fires are an easy enough thing to start...."  He chuckled.  "I should know, seeing as fire is one of my most powerful attacks."  He sighed and flexed his hand thoughtfully.  "Pity that husband of yours figured out how to use it against me.  Nearly killed me."  He laughed and sat down in the chair Kaoru was holding onto for dear life.  She couldn't back away, because she knew she would not be able to stand on her own.  She found herself staring into his eyes like a bird into the eyes of a snake.  "Though, as you can see, _nearly_ is the key word there."

 

Kaoru swallowed hard.  "I don't have a husband," she said hoarsely.  "I'm only seventeen."

 

She shuddered when Shishio reached forward and carefully tugged on the chain around her neck until the little rose pendant hung free.  This he took in his fingers and inspected thoughtfully.  "Only seventeen, eh?  Interesting."

 

"Don't touch that."  Unexpectedly angry, Kaoru yanked the necklace out of his fingers and clutched it as she backed away, finding that she was finally able to stand on her own after all.

 

They watched each other for a while without speaking.  Then Shishio said conversationally, "I've caught him, you know.  He could very well have escaped, if not for that soft heart of his - one of the little girls was in danger, you see."

 

"What did you do to him?" Kaoru snarled, somehow having no doubt whom he was talking about.

 

In answer, Shishio casually waved one arm, and a TV screen in the room flickered to life.  Kaoru jumped back, then stared in fascinated horror.  It was a security feed of Kenshin, his hands shackled together, slumped in a small cell and looking as if he was either unconscious or too tired to move.  There was blood on his face, and his clothes were torn.  "What did you do to him?!"

 

"So far, you mean?  Nothing, except the usual damage a man might sustain during capture."

 

"He looks sick!  You poisoned him, didn't you!"

 

Shishio laughed.  "True enough, in a way."

 

"Stop it!"  She was so furious that she thought the emotion was going to start seeping out of her skin, uncontainable.  "Leave him alone, let him go!"

 

Shishio arched an eyebrow.  "Let Battousai go?  Release the terrorist who's been a thorn in my side for over twenty years?  Release the man who did _this_ to me," indicating his charred body, "who snatched victory out of my grasp when it was close enough to taste?  I don't think so."

 

Kaoru was about to lose her strength again in a minute.  She staggered over to the desk and leaned against it for support.  "Battousai...he really is.  Battousai."

 

Shishio shrugged.  "Of course."

 

"But he _can't_ be!" Kaoru exclaimed desperately.  "Battousai has black hair and yellow eyes, and he's much bigger!  Battousai doesn't--"

 

"Glamour."  Shishio said the word as if to a kid who was being stupid.  "His own looks are far too noticeable - of course he disguises himself these days when he's on the job."  Shishio shrugged.

 

Kaoru licked her lips.  Then she asked, very carefully so that her voice wouldn't crack, "What are you going to do to me?"

 

"Heh.  I'm actually not sure yet.  But don't worry, I'll figure out something interesting soon."  He was leaning back in his chair, studying her again like he'd just gotten a cool new video game he was looking forward to playing.  "Have you said all you wanted to say?  Because next time we meet, it'll be all business."

 

Kaoru shivered.  She couldn't ask.  She couldn't.  She couldn't even ask _Kenshin_ , much less this monster.  _'I'm only seventeen.  I don't even have a boyfriend.  Marriage, husbands...it shouldn't be like this, it_ shouldn't _.'_   "Please, let me go," was what she said out loud.

 

"I'll let you go to your cell," he said cheerfully, as if he was granting her some huge favor.  "Fujita!"

 

The door opened again, admitting the wolf-eyed man and some other officers.  "Take her away."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

They locked her up, not in an ordinary jail cell or in the office again, but this time in what seemed to be a big metal box.  There was nothing, no window and just a hatch at the top as a poor excuse for a door; inside, a thin mattress and a strange, floor-level toilet.  A very dim, flat light seemed to be embedded in one wall, flickering occasionally.

 

Kaoru soon felt sick and tired.  She just lay on the mattress and stared blankly at the ceiling, her thoughts fuzzy.  She didn't sleep, just stared.  Eventually, it occurred to her that she felt exactly like how Kenshin had looked earlier, dazed and zombieish.

 

_'Stop it, Kaoru.  Don't lose yourself.  Sit up.  Think.  Move.'_

 

She couldn't move.  She could barely think.  Lifting her hand, she tried to concentrate and make her skin glow, wondering if it was the darkness that was making her so lethargic.

 

Instantly, a wave of nausea ran through her, and she rolled over onto her side, retching.  _'Okay,'_ she thought dizzily, _'okay.  No magic.  Okay.'_

 

_"Crosses, too, at least for some of them; same with iron and sometimes silver...."_

 

Kaoru frowned.  Iron?  Silver?  What....

 

Oh, Yamato.  The fairy stuff.

 

Frowning, feeling like she was on the brink of understanding something important, something frustratingly elusive, Kaoru laid her palm flat against the metal floor.  Her skin tingled unpleasantly.

 

_'I...I'm a fairy.  This stuff...the salt was starting to bother me...iron, silver....'_

 

Had they made this whole strange prison out of iron?  Was Kenshin locked away in one of these awful boxes, too?  _'Maybe Kenshin's my fairy godfather.'_   She had thought that, a while ago, back when things were still blessedly normal compared to this nightmare.  Kenshin...the paper clips.  The unfairly beautiful looks and the apparent immortality.  Of course he was a fairy.

 

_"You're poisoning him!"_

 

They were poisoning him.  They'd trapped Kenshin, and now Kaoru, in a prison built to take advantage of their specific weaknesses.

 

Gritting her teeth, Kaoru clenched her fists and at last hauled herself up.  "I am NOT a fairy," she hissed.

 

But soon she couldn't stand it, and she lay down again, feeling exhausted.  "Mom...."  Tears began leaking down her face.  "Dad, Mom...Yahiko....someone, come save me...."

 

She called for Kenshin, hopelessly; she called for Yahiko as if she could summon him by the power of his name alone.  Soon it was a dull, slow chant, every name she had ever heard Kenshin utter, as if by reciting their names she could somehow gather their protection around her.  "Michiko...Akira...Chou...Enishi...."  Over and over again.  She might have forgotten some of the names a few times; occasionally, new ones would occur to her.  She kept going.  "Tomoe...Yahiko...Enishi...Michi--  Gah!"  She struggled to sit up then, for she was suddenly not alone.

 

A young man had appeared crouched in her little prison, an annoyed look on his handsome face.  Kaoru's breath caught at the sight of him - the terror that was rising up in her at the sight of his smoldering eyes was choking out her relief.

 

"I hope," he said, very softly, "that you have an excellent reason for calling me."  He rose slowly, surveying her with the same kind of knowing, cold look that she had gotten from that wolf-man.  Kaoru couldn't breathe, much less speak.  Then he lifted his eyes to the ceiling, which was a little too low for his height, and he reached up to tap his knuckles against it.  "Looks like you've gotten yourself in a real mess."

 

"Will you...help me?" Kaoru managed to whisper.

 

He glared at her for a long time, and Kaoru wondered if staying stuck in this prison would be preferable to trusting herself to this man's mercy.  Then he spoke.  "I suppose I have to, or Neesan will be angry.  You've been driving them nuts over at the castle...calling them all when they have no way of reaching you."

 

"You - you're with Kenshin?" Kaoru gasped hopefully.

 

It was the wrong thing to say.  His tiger's eyes narrowed instantly - one of his hands shot out to grip her by the front of her clothes, yanking her to her feet as she pushed at him helplessly.  "I don't have anything to do with that man," he hissed.  "My loyalty lies with my sister."

 

"Th-Then...please thank her for me," Kaoru stammered, desperate to get into his good graces.

 

His grip on her loosened and his eyes slid away, the expression draining into apathy.  "Fine."  Then he suddenly shuddered.  "We're getting out of here, this place is a nightmare.  My own sister would have trouble breaking out of this brig, much less some brainless fledgling who'd be lucky to out-magic even Kenshin at her full potential."

 

"Are you calling me brainless?!" Kaoru gasped automatically, but before she could do more than bite her lip in chagrin, his attention had shifted fully back to her again.

 

"Don't let go."

 

"What--?"

 

They were off.

 

Kaoru tried to cry out, but couldn't.

 

_To be continued...._

 

Author's Notes:  Lol, I've actually been comparing Enishi's eyes to a tiger's eyes way longer than I have with Saïx. XD


	50. Chapter 50

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 11**

 

She landed with a crash, her fall broken by something relatively soft that grunted when she fell on it.

 

"Oro...."

 

 _'Can't be,'_ Kaoru thought dizzily.  Yet she had no time to catch her breath or collect her thoughts or even look around before she was yanked to her feet, and a sharp length of cold metal was pressed against her throat.

 

"Who are you?" a voice demanded in her ear.  "How did you get in here?"

 

"Guh," Kaoru croaked.  Looking around wildly, she found herself in a room made of black stone that was hung with brightly-colored tapestries, which very nearly but not quite took the edge off the slight chill in the air.  The room was a bit too big for the number of its occupants:  a large oak table with many chairs stretched through it, and a modest fire flickered quietly in a huge fireplace.

 

Yet, despite the fact that it was obviously built to accommodate about a hundred people, the only ones there besides herself were a large, well-built man who lounged in a sort of throne and studied her with an unreadable expression; whoever it was who had her gripped in his arms; and...Kenshin, still sprawled on the floor where he had fallen, staring at her with huge eyes and his mouth hanging open.

 

"K...Kaoru-dono?"

 

"Don't be stupid," the man holding her snapped.  "She's some imposter, sneaking around the palace - _look_ at her, she's not a day over twenty.  And she's kind of hot."

 

"Kaoru-dono was very pretty when she was that age," Kenshin protested, finally climbing to his feet.  "Even now, she still looks very well for her years."

 

 _'What are you_ talking _about?!'_ Kaoru wanted to scream, but was unable to make a sound for fear of the blade at her throat.  _'_ I'm _Kaoru-dono!  ...Aren't I?'_

 

"Kenji," suggested the man on the throne, "perhaps you ought to let her at least speak for herself before we decide what to do with her."

 

"Oh--  Right."

 

Kaoru was spun around and pushed roughly so that she was sitting on the table.  For the first time, she got a look at her captor - it was startling how much he looked like Kenshin, if Kenshin was (or at least looked) a few decades older.  There were silvery streaks of gray starting to run through the dark red hair, which was tied tightly back.  The blue eyes were narrowed in suspicion as he held his sword ready; the face was still good looking, despite its age.  Perhaps most importantly was the thin X-shaped mark crossing the left cheek, a bit hard to see in this lighting.

 

"You're a Himura king," Kaoru gasped.  "K...Kenji I?"

 

"Yeah--" he started, then frowned.  "'The First'?  What, the kid hasn't gone and tried to usurp me, has he?"

 

"Never mind that," Kenshin was saying.  "Shishô, she's not the real Kaoru-dono, is she?"

 

Kenji snorted.  "There's no way.  Oi, you," now addressing Kaoru, "what do you think you're doing, crashing in on the Unseelie Regent and a couple of Himura warriors?"

 

"I was _trying_ to get home," Kaoru growled.  She would have said more, but the regent had risen and was now moving toward her.  Kaoru leaned forward, meaning to hop off the table, but he reached her before she had barely moved, and she found herself leaning back again, frightened.

 

"Just hold still and don't say anything for a minute.  This won't hurt."  The large hand touched her face gently, his fingertips as sensitive as a blind man's.  Kaoru shivered a little, but felt nothing except a slight warmth creeping through her forehead.  Then the man lowered his hand again.  "Huh.  She's the real thing."

 

"She _is_?!"  Both Himuras looked astonished.  Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder, his expression anxious.

 

Kenji immediately sheathed his sword and grabbed her arms, staring earnestly at her.  "Hey, I'm sorry, I really am, I wouldn't have attacked you or anything if I knew!"

 

"Kaoru-dono, what's happened to you?" Kenshin said in bewilderment.

 

"Are you guys crazy?!"  They were crowding her.  Kaoru struggled to get off the table and edge away from them, brushing past Kenshin because he was the one more comfortable with.  As the regent folded his arms and leaned against the table, the Himuras tried to follow her, but Kaoru waved her hands wildly, trying to ward them away.  "No, stay away from me!  I mean it, don't come any closer!"

 

They stopped.  "Why do you look like you're seventeen?" Kenji wanted to know.

 

"Because I AM seventeen!" she yelled, nearly adding, 'You idiots!'  "We got arrested because _you_ turned out to be Battousai," she glared accusingly at Kenshin, "but then some scary guy kind of helped me escape, only I lost him and then I stumbled in here, and I have absolutely NO idea what's going on.  I just want to get home."

 

The men all looked at each other, then back at her.  Kenji slowly grinned and jerked his thumb at Kenshin.  "You're saying this guy ended up in prison?"

 

"Yes.  Because he's _Battousai_."

 

"Um...is this a - surprise to you?" Kenshin stammered, looking utterly bewildered.

 

"Of course it is!"  She was yelling again.  She forced herself to lower her voice.  "It's kind of shocking when I find out that my weirdo, crazy fairy godfather turns out to be some terrorist!"

 

They were staring at her again.  "Your _fairy godfather_?" Kenji repeated in disbelief.  "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

 

"No," Kaoru said in despair, "no, I'm not.  I really, really do not know what's going on."

 

The regent now spoke, his voice quiet, but deep and authoritative.  "Why don't you just tell us, from the beginning, what you know.  We'll decide what to do afterwards."

 

So Kaoru told them, trying to summarize as much as possible, but it still took a long time.  Kenshin and the regent listened quietly, rarely interrupting.  Kenji interrupted a lot, but got told to shut up by the others so much that he finally gave up and started fiddling with some loose threads in his sleeve as he listened.

 

"...and like I told you, that's how I ended up here."  Kaoru sat back and looked at them expectantly.

 

Kenshin was staring at the ground, looking upset.  The regent was shaking his head with an irritated expression, and Kenji was studying Kaoru thoughtfully.  He was the first to speak.  "Huh," he said softly.  "So you don't remember me at all, then.  I'm just 'King Kenji I' to you."

 

Kaoru swallowed.  "Well...who are you, then?"

 

"Don't tell her," the regent said sharply.

 

"I wasn't going to!"

 

"What?  Why not?!" Kaoru exclaimed.

 

Kenji looked back at her and grinned.  "Seems like this is stuff you're supposed to figure out for yourself, but...."  He suddenly strode forward and, to her horror, scooped her into his arms to give her a bear hug and then kissed her cheek.  "I'm allowed to do this much, at least.  I love you so much!"

 

The affection in his tone was real, which freaked her out the most.  She pushed away from him.  "Don't _do_ that!  You're--!"  'Just a stranger,' she meant to say, but then realized that, at least from his perspective, he wasn't.  Then she realized, "Oh my gosh, I just got hugged by King Kenji I."

 

He was laughing.  "Man, you are even more fun when you're younger than me."

 

"Wait a minute!"  She was staring at all three of them now, finally understanding why their clothes looked like they'd come from a museum display.  "If you really are King Kenji I - am I in the _past_?!  Did we _time travel_?!"

 

"If it really was that brat who broke you out of prison," the regent mused, "then I suppose it's quite possible."

 

"Why would he randomly time travel like that, though?" Kenji protested.

 

"She says that she thinks the cell was made out of iron," the regent said, as if he was speaking to an unintelligent student.  "Enishi wouldn't have had any problem with it himself, but he couldn't physically get her out by traveling through space.  He had to travel through time instead.  If she hadn't gotten lost, it should have been a simple transitional journey."

 

"Oh," Kenji realized, "like when Dad used to come visit us secretly, back when he and Mom were separated."  He gave Kaoru a strange look then.

 

Kenshin appeared to have been thinking very hard.  "So Shishio is alive," he murmured unhappily.  "He means to do evil in the future, where apparently this one has gone to stop him...."  He looked at Kaoru.  She could not help being glad for the difference in atmosphere, for she was used to an uncomfortable intensity in his expression, as if he was always holding back something that strained to get free.  This Kenshin, however, looked at her with a calm steadiness that she found herself grateful for.  "And you're certain?  It truly is Sano and Yahiko and Megumi-dono and the others, safe and living there in the future?"

 

"Yeah.  Why, what's wrong with them?"

 

"It...it just explains something," Kenshin said slowly, "something that has troubled this one for quite a while."

 

Kaoru suddenly noticed his scar--  his birthmark.  When she had first come, the cross-shaped mark had been almost as hard to see as Kenji's.  As she had told her story, however, the mark had darkened and thickened just a little, and now it was fading slightly again.  It was like the thing reacted to his moods.  "Does your birthmark change color?" she asked abruptly.

 

Kenshin looked startled for a moment, then laughed along with Kenji.

 

"Yeah," Kenji explained.  "It's the Himura family curse, you could say."

 

"The mark tends to fade or grow more vivid depending on this one's feelings," Kenshin admitted.  "Your rose is the same, Kaoru-dono."

 

Kaoru caught her breath.  "My rose?  You mean...."  She pulled the necklace out, with the little ruby pendant glinting in the firelight.  Kenshin and Kenji leaned forward to study it with interest.  The regent came over and touched the necklace, just as he had done Kaoru's forehead earlier.

 

"It's the same rose," he said, "enchanted to look like a piece of jewelry.  There is a sense of your enchantress's magic on it."

 

"T...Tomoe-san?" Kaoru said in surprise.  "She's around in this day and age?"

 

"Well, she _is_ fae," Kenji said, as if such a thing made instant sense.

 

"She lost her original immortality," Kenshin clarified, "so she is very old now.  But it looks like soon she will have discovered a way to recover her lost years."

 

"Hm."  Kaoru fiddled with the necklace, thinking.

 

"Have you tried unlocking the spell on it?" the regent asked.

 

" _Yes_ ," Kaoru said forcefully, remembering her increasing efforts to figure the stupid thing out.  "I've banged on it, looked for hidden catches, tried all the passwords I could think of, nothing.  I don't _get_ it.  If you're some sort of fairy king or regent or whatever, can't you open it?"

 

"It is meant to release its secrets only to you," the regent said.  "It doesn't seem like it even has any use to anyone else."  He shook his head.  "If you're the one who locked it up in the first place, you'll eventually be able to open it again."

 

"But I wasn't a fairy back then," Kaoru said in despair.  "I wouldn't have known anything about magic, would I?  Maybe I was stupid and made the password or whatever too hard to ever guess."

 

"That's your problem, then," said the regent.

 

"Oh, great," Kaoru grumbled, though not quite daring to be outright rude to his face.  The man was pretty imposing.

 

"So what are we gonna do now?" Kenji wanted to know.  He grinned.  "Gonna take her home with you, Dad?"

 

"Of course not," Kenshin yelped, glancing at Kaoru out of the corner of his eye as if she was some fascinating temptation that he wanted to avoid.  "Kaoru-dono would...probably not be happy about it."

 

"About having a beautiful, nubile young girl who looks exactly like her teenage self hanging around you?" Kenji said teasingly.

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Wait, what?  There's another Kaoru?"  Oh, duh.  King Kenshin and Queen Kaoru.  Wait...if Kaoru herself looked exactly like the queen--  "Wait, wait, wait!" she cried frantically, trying to shut up Kenshin and Kenji because they both looked like they were about to speak.  "Never mind!  I don't want to know!  I _really_ do not want to know!"

 

"She needs to go back to her own time," the regent said.

 

"We can't take her, though," Kenji protested.  "She's from, like, hundreds of years from now!  Anyone who tried to take her would never be able to get back.  Except Titania, and there's no way that's happening; and Enishi's still holed up under--"  He went abruptly silent.

 

"Call him," the regent said to Kaoru.

 

"Call...Enishi-san?" she said uncertainly.  What, on the phone?

 

"No."  Kenshin looked adamant.  "She's not going anywhere with that man."

 

"Then who's going to take her home, _you_?" the regent said harshly.  "You would leave your family and your country to take a younger version of the queen to her home, where you would, what, team up with your future self who is _already there_ on legitimate business?"

 

"She's...she's not going with him," Kenshin repeated.

 

"What's, um, so bad about this Enishi guy?" Kaoru asked cautiously.

 

Kenshin and the regent did not answer.  Kenji laughed grimly.  "Do you know that Shishô here is the Unseelie regent?"

 

"I don't even know what 'Unseelie' means."

 

"Dark fae.  The ones you really, really don't want to meet in a back alley at night."

 

Kaoru stared at him.  "Wait...you mean you're the king - regent, whatever - of the _evil_ fairies?"

 

"Believe me, it was not by choice," the regent growled.

 

"You were the _only_ choice, though," Kenshin said unhappily.  "You know this."

 

"Of course I know it.  I wouldn't have taken the job otherwise."

 

"What does this have to do with Enishi-san?" Kaoru insisted.

 

"He's the Unseelie King.  The real one."

 

"...Oh."  Kaoru swallowed.  "Who's his sister, then?  He rescued me because of her.  Maybe she can help."

 

The men glanced at her.  "Enishi's sister is Tomoe-dono.  She's the only one who could ever really get through to him."

 

" _Tomoe-san_?!"  Kaoru put her head in her hands.  That quiet, beautiful woman she had known, first a fairy and now the sister of the king of the dark fairies.  "I don't get it...I don't know _how_ many times I've felt like my head was going to explode in the past few weeks...."

 

"Your head feels like it's about to explode?" Kenji said in alarm.  "Shishô, is there some kind of destruction spell on her or something?!"

 

"It's just an expression," Kaoru said quickly.  One that was giving her a sudden pang of homesickness.  "Look...how dangerous is it for me to go with that Enishi guy?  Is he really the only one who can take me home?"

 

All three of the men started talking at once, but it was the regent's voice which cut through the others'.  "If Enishi's walking loose, it means he's gotten free from his prison, and if he has freed himself, I doubt he would have any reason to harm her."

 

"But--!"

 

"Still--!"

 

"Would you rather the Seelie Queen escorted her instead?"

 

Both Himuras fell abruptly silent.

 

"So the 'Seelie' are the good fairies?" Kaoru asked hopefully.

 

"Ha ha ha ha," Kenji laughed humorlessly.  Kenshin said nothing, but shuddered.

 

"I know it goes against your gut instinct," the regent said impatiently, "but you've both had more than enough experience with both courts.  It's either Titania, or the Enishi of the future.  Think about this rationally instead of letting your feelings get in the way.  Which one would you trust more?"

 

"Which Faerie ruler would I trust more?"  Kenji shook his head.  "That's like asking, 'Would you rather be strangled by a python or stomped to death by an elephant?'"

 

"The elephant," Kaoru said.  "Quicker death.  I assume."

 

Kenji laughed, this time sounding genuinely amused; Kenshin gave her a wounded look.  "Kaoru-dono...."

 

Kaoru took a deep breath.  "How do I call Enishi-san?"

 

She half expected someone to rattle off a phone number, but the regent only said instead, "Say his name three times.  Since he's the king, he's not obligated to answer, but if he's looking for you, calling him will give him your exact location."

 

Kaoru blinked.  "Oh - you meant, literally call him."  She looked around.  "Do I have to do anything special?  I mean, it's not just 'Enishi-san, Enishi-san, Enishi-san,' is it?  That feels kind of silly--"  She broke off with a yelp when a fifth person suddenly appeared in the room.

 

"Figures you'd be with _him_ ," Enishi growled.  "You realize that you were, like, one step away from wandering into oblivion?  I had to circle around, and lost you for good.  Finally just gave up and went home.  Was trying to think up some good excuses to tell Neesan when you _finally_ called."

 

Both Kenshin and Kenji had drawn their swords and stepped in front of Kaoru, bristling.  "Um...guys?" she said uncertainly.

 

"This one is not letting you take her," Kenshin growled.

 

"You'd better not hurt her," Kenji threatened.

 

Enishi rolled his eyes.  "I could care less, you know.  It's no skin off my nose if the little idiot is stuck in the era of no air conditioning, central heating, or indoor plumbing.  I'll just head back and tell Neesan and the other Kenshin that their precious Kaoru is safe and sound and entirely out of their reach."  He turned to go.

 

"WAIT!" Kaoru screeched, shoving past the Himuras and running after him.  The realization of being stuck in a place where she would not be able to use flushing toilets or have air conditioning in the summer was very jarring, not to mention the prospect of never seeing her family and friends again.  "I want to go home!  Please, I didn't call you for nothing, I promise."

 

"Kaoru-dono!"

 

Kaoru turned to face him, her eyes flashing.  "I can't be stuck here.  I _can't_."  She jumped a little when she felt Enishi's hand on her shoulder.  She looked up and saw him watching Kenshin with an evil smile.

 

"Don't worry, Kenshin.  I'll take _really_ good care of her."  He leaned down and kissed Kaoru's neck.

 

"Hey!"  She shoved him away indignantly, even as Kenshin was surging forward with a shout.  "Don't do that," was all she could think to say, glaring at him.

 

Enishi shrugged, his arm still around her shoulders.  "Nothing personal.  I like getting a rise out of him."

 

The regent had raised an arm to bar Kenshin's way.  "He's just trying to get you to make a fool out of yourself, and it's working."

 

"Don't you touch her," Kenshin snarled at Enishi.  "Don't you _touch_ her!"

 

"Hey, Dad," Kenji said, frowning as he looked hard at Enishi.  "He called you 'Kenshin.'"

 

Kaoru did not see what was so important about this, since it seemed like pretty much everyone just called him 'Kenshin.'  Kenshin, though, was breathing hard as he glared at Enishi.

 

Enishi looked away.  "Don't read too much into it," he mumbled.  "Calling you 'Battousai' just makes me mad.  I promised my sister I'd play nice with you."  Still holding Kaoru, he turned away, and she stumbled after him.  "This time," he told her firmly, " _do not_ let go.  I'm NOT chasing after you again."

 

Kaoru clung to Enishi's arm, sparing a glance over her shoulder as they stepped into the otherworldly pathway again.  The last she saw of the past era, the regent was watching them go as inscrutably as ever.  Kenji had a hand raised in reluctant farewell, and Kenshin reached after her desperately.  "Kaoru-dono...!"

 

_To be continued...._


	51. Chapter 51

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 12**

 

They stepped into Himura Castle, some sort of ancient banquet hall that had been furnished like a huge modern living room, with couches and televisions and coffee tables.

 

"Uncle Enishi!"

 

"Hey, he brought KAORU-CHAN!"

 

The next instant, Kaoru found herself being crowded by a bunch of curious-looking children.

 

"Kaoru-chan, we're so glad you're safe!" Suzumi cried, hugging her.

 

"Oh...Suzumi-chan, hi."  Kaoru hugged her back shakily.  It was such a relief to be home.

 

Wait a minute, _home_?

 

"Kaoru-chan, is Ken-jiichan okay???" Aya asked anxiously.

 

Kaoru looked around and realized that most of the children were looking very strained and worried, as were the adults that had come over to join the group.  "Um...."

 

She looked to Enishi for help.  He did not meet her eyes, but merely sat down on the ground, picked up a toddler that had crawled up to him, and started cooing at it.  The child giggled and reached up to pat his face, dribbling a spot or two of drool onto his jeans.  The Faerie King did not seem to mind.

 

Kaoru looked back at everyone else.  "Look, the last thing I knew, we were having a war at the restaurant and I had no idea what was going on."

 

"Shishio made his move," Sagara said shortly.  "Some of our men were hurt, but luckily no one killed.  We also got the kids out all right, the Suoh lady's off with Kiyosato's wife and Kensuke's back home with his parents."  He gave Kaoru a pointed look.  "The only ones MIA were you and Kenshin.  Our mole hasn't been able to give us any specifics yet."

 

"Grandma, did Uncle Enishi save you?" one of the children asked.

 

"Um...sort of?  Yes?"

 

Everyone looked at Enishi.  "Don't look at me, I'm not on my brother's side any more than Kenshin's."  Enishi lay down on his back and held the toddler's arms as she stood shakily on his chest.  Delighted with the novel feel of flesh under her feet, the child began bouncing happily.  " _Oof_...."

 

He quickly sat back up again.  Now that the child was standing on firm ground, he cautiously started to let go of her.  She promptly started to collapse, and he caught her before she could plop to the floor.  Gurgling, she stiffened and then collapsed her legs again, then abruptly launched herself into his chest.  "Ow."

 

"Who is your brother?" Kaoru asked.

 

Enishi's eyes slid to hers, then away.  "The guy in the bandages," he said nonchalantly.  "Oi, when are you gonna start walking properly?"  This last bit was, Kaoru assumed, addressed to the toddler, who was now biting his shirt and then pulling back to critically inspect the resulting drool-marks.

 

Kaoru threw up her hands.  "So I just got saved by the guy whose brother is trying to ruin my life.  Great.  No wonder Kenshin and Kenji-Ô didn't trust you."

 

"Kenji?" many voices asked (with widely-varying honorifics or lack thereof).  "You saw him?!  Enishi(-san/-jisan/-kun), you took her to Faerie?!"

 

"I didn't _take_ her anywhere," Enishi grumbled.  "She got lost all on her own."  The toddler reached up to poke at his glasses.  "Cut that out, you.  Now they're smudged."

 

Akira impatiently reached down and hauled his daughter out of Enishi's lap.  She squawked in protest.  "Just tell us what happened, will you?"

 

Enishi abruptly stood up.  Kaoru noticed that all the adults automatically backed away a couple of steps, though the children did not seem particularly alarmed.  "Nothing happened," he snarled, apparently more unpleasant now that there was no longer a cute niece to temper his mood.  "She called me.  I didn't feel like resisting.  I tried to haul her out.  She got lost like an idiot, I chased her down and brought her back.  The end."

 

In the next second, he vanished.  Literally.  It was quite a shock for Kaoru.  The toddler burst into tears.

 

"Grandma, is Ken-jiichan okay?"

 

Her head still spinning from the Faerie King's sudden disappearance, Kaoru looked down and saw a little girl with Yahiko's wild hair and Tsubame's wide, innocent eyes gazing at her anxiously.  "Um...please call me Big Sis, not Grandma, okay?"  Kaoru looked away.  "Kenshin is...."  She looked up at all the tense-looking adults.  "I think the vice chancellor still has him," she said in a low voice.

 

There were a few gasps.  A shocked silence.

 

"You mean Uncle Ken got _captured_?!" more than one of the children exclaimed in dismay.

 

"No way," Sagara burst out, sounding as if he had very narrowly avoided cussing in front of the kids.

 

Kaoru looked away.  "I only saw him on a television screen, but...it looked kind of bad.  His prison must have been iron, too."

 

More suffocated cursing.  Sagara turned to Yahiko.  "Get Chou.  If you still can't get hold of Saitô directly, tell someone to get himself arrested or something.  Someone track down Kiyosato's wife."

 

Kaoru found that she was shaking.  In light of the chaos that was starting to form at the news of Kenshin's capture, she felt bad about interrupting with her own needs, but she didn't know how long she could go without the support of real life.  Besides, she was a queen, wasn't she?  "Where are my parents?" she wanted to know.

 

Most of the adults looked too busy to hear her.  Tsubame, though, paused and said compassionately, "They're here.  Would you like me to bring you to them?"

 

"Yes.  _Please_."

 

Her parents looked shaken but all right.  Iori seemed as happy as ever, occupied as he was with a cookie.  As soon as Kaoru came into the chamber - an odd-looking room, with its ancient stone walls and modern furnishings - her mother came rushing over to hug her, and her father was not far behind in inquiring after Kaoru anxiously.

 

"Mom, Dad, I'm fine."  Kaoru blinked and realized suddenly that she was close to tears.  "Are you guys okay?"

 

"Yes, but...."

 

"Kaoru!" her mother burst out.  "Did you _see_ them?!  Those...those strange people-- creatures...."

 

"Trolls and goblins," Kaoru said softly.  "Elves and shape-shifters.  So you saw them, too?"

 

"Something strange is going on," Mr. Arai murmured.

 

Kaoru hesitated.  She wasn't sure if this was the best time to tell them, but...things seemed to be getting worse and worse.  Perhaps the sooner they knew, the more prepared they would be to handle whatever would come next.  "Mom?  Dad?  I need to show you something."  She reached for one of Iori's cookies and turned it into gold.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru and her family slept at the castle that night.  They were given a guest room, which she suspected had had the same function hundreds of years ago, albeit most likely without the cable TV and Internet connection.  Kaoru wanted to go straight to sleep, but she knew she would not be able to even if her parents _had_ let her climb immediately into bed, which they didn't.  It was already late, but they stayed up talking until long past midnight.

 

The Arais seemed very shaken and upset, but to Kaoru's relief, they didn't try anything like disowning her or denying the facts.  It gave her hope that maybe they could find a way through this together, that maybe they could still be a family even when the rest of the world was being turned upside-down.

 

A little past four in the morning, the door opened.

 

"Um...yes?" Kaoru said uncertainly.

 

The woman, who was very beautiful (of course she was, pretty much everyone here was), dipped a little curtsey.  "Hello, Kaoru-chan.  I'm Sara," she said.  "I...thought you might like to know that they've brought Ken-chan back."

 

"They - _have_?" Kaoru stammered incredulously.  "They broke him out of prison?!  _Battousai_?!  From under the vice--  From under Shishio's nose?!"

 

Sara grinned.  It was suddenly obvious to Kaoru that this woman was a fae.  "Sano-kun and the others are quite resourceful.  We're very proud of our boys."  She gave a little shudder.  "I'm just grateful we didn't have to ask Lady Titania for help after all."

 

Kaoru felt her flesh creep at the sound of that name, but she did not want to ask about it.  She simply nodded, glanced back at her parents, and went to follow Sara out.

 

Kenshin looked terrible.  He'd been a little beaten up, but it was mostly the way he half-lay draped in Sano's arms that scared Kaoru the most.  He looked exhausted almost to death, as if he couldn't stand up on his own.  He should be...stronger than this.

 

It didn't matter.  Kaoru hurried to him at once, without even thinking.  As soon as he saw her, he straightened up a little and took a firmer stance, though she noticed that he did not let go of Sanosuke's supporting arm.

 

"Kao--"

 

"Ken--"  Kaoru suddenly froze.  A familiar dark figure had come looming up behind Kenshin.  "Th-That man!" she squeaked, pointing.

 

Everyone glanced at Fujita, who gave the odd impression of a wolf that had found itself in a sheep pen and decided that the occupants were not worth his attention.  "Arai," he greeted dryly.

 

"But you're--  Aren't you--?!"

 

"He's an ally, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said, his voice sounding strained and almost too quiet for her to hear.

 

She supposed that she had to take their word for it, though it was creepy being watched by the same cold-eyed man in uniform who had delivered her to Shishio.

 

"Um...all right."  It was hard to move, hard to breathe, until Fujita had stalked past her and disappeared down some corridor, accompanied by Sanosuke and one of the giggly fey women who liked to call Kenshin "-chan."  From the sound of their talk, it seemed like Fujita was not his real name, and that he was somewhat irritated at having his cover blown.

 

Kaoru looked back at Kenshin, who was now sitting down.  One of the giggly women, though not giggling now, was massaging his shoulders.  Someone handed him a cup of something hot, and several of the children had gathered silently around his knees.  He rested a hand on one of their heads and gazed at them until someone nudged him and told him to drink.

 

"I'm sorry," Kaoru whispered, not knowing why.

 

Everyone looked at her, confused.  "What?" Kenshin said.

 

Kaoru did not know why she did what she did next.  She drew in a breath, stepped forward, and set her hand against his forehead as if she was going to feel his temperature.  He closed his eyes as soon as she touched him.  She couldn't stand seeing him like this, she wanted him to be strong and well and smiling - she wanted to hear him laugh.

 

Her hand felt hot; there was a sense of - of _flow_ , as if something was moving steadily from her into him.  Kenshin yelped, his eyes flying open again, and dropped the cup, but he did not otherwise move.  He stared at her with wide eyes, astonished and trusting, but Kaoru backed away as she suddenly became keenly aware of how _not human_ she was.  "No," she whispered.  Then she turned and fled.

 

She had no idea where she was going, only that she wanted to _get out_ , get _away_ from all this, to run from the increasingly strong feeling that she was unwhole, that part of herself was looking for her, and she did not want herself to find her because then, everything, _everything_ would change.

 

No one stopped her.  The castle's main doors practically opened for her of their own accord (which did not help her mood at all).  The cool night air rushed past her face, and then Kaoru came to a dead halt.

 

_'Um.  That.  Was not there before.'_

 

It was like a wall had sprung up around the castle in the hours since she had last been outside of it.  When Kaoru blinked and looked at it a certain way, it seemed shimmery and flowing, like a rainbow veil.  When she blinked again and tried to look at it normally, it seemed like a towering chain-link fence, with barbed wire at the top and slightly humming with electricity - or like a thick stone wall; it disturbed her that she could not tell which.  Slowly, she moved toward it, unbelieving.  There was no gate, at least not along the length she could see.  She could not get out.

 

It was shimmering again.  Kaoru very cautiously raised her hand to it, though she did not touch it.  She was startled at the softness that brushed her fingers, a sort of silkily organic feel, like the ear of an infant or the petal of a rose.  Encouraged, she stretched her fingers out further, then snatched her hand back with a yelp, wringing it and staring at the little pinprick of blood on her fingertip.  As if she had touched a thorn.  Or a spindle.  _'I'm not going to fall asleep for a hundred years, am I?!'_

 

"Kaoru-dono?"

 

She whirled around.  Kenshin was standing a little ways behind her, looking concerned.  There were a lot of people clustered up by the castle as well, but Kenshin glanced back behind him and they began trickling reluctantly back inside.  "What is _this_?" Kaoru half-yelled at him, gesturing at the veil/fence/wall/humongous thorn bush.

 

"A barrier," he said.  "For protection.  This is not the first time Himura Castle has been in need of it."  He tilted his head a little.  "Just out of curiosity, what does it look like to you, Kaoru-dono?"

 

"I don't know," she growled.  "It keeps _changing_."

 

"Really?" he exclaimed, looking surprised.

 

"Why?  What do _you_ see it as?"

 

He gazed up at it thoughtfully.  "Usually it looks like a stone wall to this one.  Every once in a while, particularly if a powerful fae is near, it looks less...natural."  He shrugged.  "It's different for many, though."

 

Kaoru shivered.  "It's...magic, isn't it," she managed to say.

 

"Enishi's work, that it is.  This barrier has stood for a long time, and endured much.  The fact that it is once more visible does not bode well for us:  our enemies are at work."

 

"Shishio?" Kaoru said cautiously.

 

"Yes."

 

They looked at each other for a while.  "You don't look very tired anymore," she finally said.  "I thought you were wounded."

 

He said, sounding very careful, "This one _was_ wounded, that he was."

 

Kaoru looked at her hands.  "So I can...heal people now."

 

"Thank you," he said, sounding more like he was trying to be soothing than polite.  "Erm...Kaoru-dono...."

 

She narrowed her eyes at him.

 

He looked unhappy, but did not back down.  "This one was not the only one with injuries.  There are several who have...not yet recovered.  From earlier."

 

Kaoru sighed.  She knew what he was asking and didn't want to do it, but knew she had to, otherwise she would be a horrible person.  It wasn't that she didn't want to help them, because she did very much - it was the fact that she _shouldn't_ be able to help them the way he wanted her to, yet was going to have to acknowledge that part of herself anyway.  "Fine.  I've never _healed_ anyone before, so I'm not promising anything," she said, unable to keep some bitterness out of her voice, "but I'll see what I can do."

 

_To be continued...._


	52. Chapter 52

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Chapter 13**

 

It did not take long, which she was glad of, because Kenshin was leaving again the same night.  "The children are in danger.  They must be brought here as quickly as possible - it might already be too late."

 

Aya, Suzumi, Kensuke.  Shishio would be after them.  Feeling unaccountably anxious about them, Kaoru insisted on going with Kenshin to the girls' house, even though the thought of leaving the safety of the castle made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.  Yutarô accompanied them and Mitsuko drove, while Sanosuke, Yahiko, and some others headed off separately for the Himura mansion.

 

The conversation on the drive felt awkward.  Mitsuko seemed nervously bubbly and kept snapping into heated arguments with Yutarô and impatient ones with Kenshin.  The one-armed warrior, finally getting fed up, opened the door and exited the car at one point ( _while it was still going full speed_ ), calling back that he would meet them there.  Kenshin was left alone to deal with Mitsuko's childish whining and Kaoru's prickly insults.  Upset as she was, Kaoru was not surprised that Kenshin was looking strained again.

 

Yutarô was already in a fight when they reached the house, finishing off the last of his opponents as Mitsuko pulled up to the curb.

 

"I'm going to see if there are others," Kenshin said, getting swiftly out of the car.  "Mitsuko-dono, please check on Keiko-dono and the children; Kaoru-dono, _please stay in the car_."

 

Kaoru watched, barely able to see a thing as the men disappeared into the shadows and the fey woman vanished into the house.  For a while, nothing happened.  Then Kenshin and Yutarô appeared again, consulted briefly, and parted once more.  Kenshin opened the front door and went inside as Yutarô came over to the car.  Kaoru rolled the window down.  "What's happening?"

 

"Nothing.  Kenshin's gone to get them."

 

"Is there anyone else around?"

 

"No, I got 'em all, though there's probably going to be more coming."  Yutarô sighed.  "Man, they're gonna be tougher than these clowns, too.  We'd better be out of here by--  Hey!  What are you doing?!"

 

Ignoring him, Kaoru tossed the car door shut again and marched towards the house.

 

Yutarô was suddenly in front of her, his cat-like eyes narrowed.  "Kenshin said to stay in the car."

 

"You always do everything Kenshin-sama tells you to do?"  She felt tense, hoping that Yutarô wouldn't try to stop her by force.

 

"Heck no!  But--"

 

"Good, because I don't, either."  Kaoru swerved around him and marched on.

 

"Argh!  Stupid woman...."

 

Kaoru bristled, but did not bother to turn around or respond.  To her relief, Yutarô did not try to follow her farther.

 

The kitchen lights were on.  Mitsuko was perched on the counter, eating some kind of leftovers out of a plastic container.  "The girls are packing," she told Kaoru.  Then she grinned.  "Ken-chan told you to stay in the car."

 

"Well, I didn't."

 

"He won't like that," Mitsuko said cheerfully.  She held out the container of food.  "Want some?"

 

"No, thanks."  Kaoru moved to the hallway, which was dark, but light from the two open bedroom doors were spilling thick yellow bars across the shadowy aisle.

 

"Don't take your _clothes_ , Neechan, the fairies can glamour us anything we want!"

 

"Do you know how much I _paid_ for these jeans?  I am NOT leaving them behind!  And besides, what about you and your stupid _toys_?"

 

"I'm not abandoning Kuma-chan and the others to the bad guys!"

 

"Aya-dono...Suzumi-dono...."

 

Kaoru peered into one doorway, where Suzumi was stuffing a plush bear and a few fashion dolls into an overnight bag; then into the other doorway, where Aya was folding clothes into a suitcase, as Kenshin hovered nearby looking strained.

 

"Need some help?" Kaoru said dryly.

 

Everyone gasped and looked at her, then Kenshin slumped reproachfully and the girls burst into giggles.

 

"Kaoru-chan!  You came, too!"

"Aya-chan.  Suzumi-chan," Kaoru said severely.  "A very scary person wants to put you in a dangerous position.  You don't have time for your clothes and dolls.  Don't you understand how important this is?"

 

The girls paused uneasily.

 

"I was captured," Kaoru said.  "It's not something I want to see happen to you two.  Let's go."

 

"All right," Aya said, looking subdued.  Suzumi ran over to hug Kaoru and apologize.

 

"This one is going to go wake your mother," Kenshin said, heading back into the hallway.  "Please be ready to leave soon."

 

"Okay, Ken-jiichan!"  Spirits still as high as ever, apparently.  Did none of the other females involved in this mess take anything seriously?

 

Kaoru came out and watched as Kenshin turned on the hallway light, opened the third bedroom door, and hesitantly went inside.  The figure in the bed stirred restlessly and pulled an arm over her head to shield against the light.

 

"Keiko-dono."  Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.

 

"Make her alarm go off!" one of the girls yelled from behind.

 

Kenshin glanced up, shook his head a little, then turned his attention back to the sleeping woman.  "Keiko-dono, please wake up."  He smoothed her hair away from her face, then quickly backed away when her eyes flickered open.

 

"Mm...what...?"  Keiko suddenly shot upright.  "You!" she gasped, clutching the blanket up to her chest even though her nightwear was perfectly decent.

 

Kenshin kept backing up until he was almost level with Kaoru in the doorway.  "Keiko-dono, you must get up at once and prepare to leave with us.  You and the girls are in danger."

 

"You're _Battousai_."  Then Keiko's expression seemed to crumple in betrayal.  For the first time, Kaoru realized that she might be looking terrible because she had been crying earlier, not because she had just been awakened.  "All this time, you were hiding it, _lying_ to me--"

 

"Please - this one will explain later, but now we--"

 

Keiko had snatched at the phone on her bedside table, but now threw it down in horror.  "You cut the phone line!"

 

"It was like that when we came, that it was," Kenshin explained.  "Do you see now why we need to leave immediately?"

 

One of the girls shoved into the doorway with them and flicked on the light.  "Mom, get _up_.  The bad guys are coming and we have to leave!"

 

Kaoru put a hand on Kenshin's shoulder.  "Go look for any papers or important things they might need," she found herself saying.  "I'll...handle this."

 

Kenshin stared at her, looking first surprised and then grateful.  He nodded.  "This one will leave it to you."  He moved away purposefully.

 

Kaoru looked back at Keiko, who was staring at her.  "A...Arai-san?"

 

"Suoh-san," Kaoru said, coming into the room.  Suzumi had dashed off again, and Kaoru could hear Aya lugging something down the hall, calling for Kenshin.  "I guess you heard the news about Battousai."

 

"He--!"

 

Kaoru didn't let her get started.  "I don't really know what's going on, either, but I do know that Kenshin is not the enemy here.  He wants to help us, and we - we should...trust him.  I...."  Kaoru swallowed and said softly, still holding Keiko's eyes, "I really believe that."

 

"He's Battousai," Keiko repeated blankly, "the man is Battousai...."

 

Kaoru suddenly moved across the room so she could look right into Keiko's face.  "Please listen to me.  I was captured earlier, by the men who want both me and your daughters dead."  Kaoru had no idea what Shishio really wanted, but she needed the sense of danger to sink in quickly for Keiko.  "We're in trouble, all of us.  They had already come for you, they cut your phone lines; it was Kenshin's friend who stopped them before they could get in to hurt you and the girls.  Please believe me, the castle - Himura Castle - is the only place where you and the girls can be safe right now.  Please come with us.  We need to hurry."

 

Keiko stared at her and swallowed.  Kaoru could see in her face that she believed her, and also that she did not want to believe, that she was more confused and frightened than even Kaoru had felt.  "I don't understand."

 

"You don't need to right now.  Just come."  Kaoru glanced back to the hallway, which was getting noisy with the sounds of Mitsuko and the girls ravaging the house for important things to bring.  "I'm pretty sure that the girls will come with us whether you like it or not, and we don't want to leave you behind."

 

Keiko's mouth tightened.  "You're kidnapping us."

 

"We're going to Himura Castle.  We'll try to explain everything there."  Kaoru took her hands.  " _Please_."

 

They stared at each other for a very long moment.  Then Keiko said softly, echoing the very thoughts in Kaoru's heart, "Who...are you?  How do I know you?"

 

Kaoru had a sudden, crazy urge, which she resisted, to put her arms around the woman and burst into tears.  It confused her, feeling such powerful love for a complete stranger.  "Come on."  Trying to smile, she helped Keiko out of bed and then looked around.  "Is your wallet here?  Any important papers?  You don't have to change clothes, but you should probably get a jacket or something.  It's getting a little cold."

 

After that, they were out sooner than Kaoru expected.  Keiko, though still looking confused and frightened and as if she did not trust Kenshin or Kaoru at all, nevertheless got her act together and had what she needed packed up before the girls were even finished coming up with a list of important things for Kenshin to look for.

 

"Girls," Keiko snapped, "get outside, I want you in the car by the time I close the front door.  Ken--"  She hesitated only a moment, "Kenshin-san, the top right-hand drawer of that desk has papers that I haven't gotten copied yet.  I don't think there's anything else--  How long are we going to be gone?"

 

"This one has no idea," he admitted.  "It is also unknown whether your house and belongings will be destroyed or will remain undisturbed, though we can certainly meet all your immediate needs at the castle."

 

Keiko hesitated only a couple of seconds to finger a cabinet full of fine china and a hand-knitted blanket thrown artfully over the sofa.  Then she closed her eyes, opened them again, and marched out of the house without looking back, yelling at the girls as she did so ("I told you to be _in the car_!"  "But Mom, Yuta-kun's telling us we have to take HIS car!"  "Wait, I forgot my...!").

 

Mitsuko was already long gone; Kaoru could hear the engine running outside.  Kenshin was by the front door, reaching out to her as if to urge her to hurry.  Kaoru quickly snatched up the knitted blanket and rushed to join him.

 

The girls' good-natured arguing with Mitsuko over which radio station to listen to seemed a bit incongruous under the circumstances.  However, it eventually occurred to Kaoru that she would rather listen to cheerful bickering over music than have to endure a tense, frightened silence.

 

"Girls," Keiko finally snapped, but at that moment, the music was interrupted by a burst of static.

 

 _"Kenshin,"_ Sagara's voice said urgently, _"where are you?"_

 

"On Radiant Garden approaching Hollow Bastion, why?" Kenshin said at once, leaning toward the front seat.  The girls whispered to each other anxiously, Ayame giving her sister a soft but impatient slap.

 

_"We almost didn't get here in time, the place is swarming with goons."_

 

"We'll be right there, Sano."

 

_"The girls--?"_

 

"Yes, but--"

 

_"Drop 'em off at the castle first!"_

 

"But Kensuke's family--"

 

_"We can hold 'em off long enough to--"_

 

"I'm already altering the route," Mitsuko put in cheerfully.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The gates to the estate opened at once, without any authorization, so that Mitsuko did not even have to slow down as she drove through.  Kaoru was a little disoriented until she realized that there was not a single light on the grounds - the entire mansion was dark, including the lamps lining the long drive.  Mitsuko, snapping the car's high-beam lights on, cursed as she swerved to avoid a couple of fighting men who were suddenly illuminated just in front of them.

 

Kenshin immediately launched himself out of the car.  The girls were tittering nervously, and Keiko reached back to grip Kaoru's hand without either of them thinking twice about it.

 

Then Mitsuko just _drove away_ , leaving Kenshin fighting in the dark.  "Hey!" Kaoru shouted.  "You're just _leaving_ him?!"

 

"Ken-chan can handle himself fine," Mitsuko said, a little impatiently.  "It's the other Ken-chan we've got to worry about - he's got a hotter head, and a harpy for a mother."  She glanced back slyly.  "I think we're going to need you, Kaoru-chan."

 

When one of the fey women opened a small side door, she was holding a candle.  The inside of the house was as pitch-black as the outside.  "We were about to wake little Ken-chan," she murmured to Mitsuko as everyone filed inside.  "Is big Ken-chan here?"

 

"Yes, he's cleaning up outside," Mitsuko said airily.  "What about Natsue?"

 

"I wanted to drug her," Mara sniffed, "but big Ken-chan wouldn't like it."  She grinned.  "The little one wouldn't mind, I'm sure."  As soon as they closed the door, she glanced around, then made a motion with her fingers so that the candle suddenly seemed to burst with light, illuminating the area to about half a meter all around them.  Kaoru was sure it was magic, but determinedly did not ask.

 

The group of women met up with Sanosuke just outside Kensuke's bedroom door.  He nodded in acknowledgment and then pushed his way in, with the others in his wake.

 

Mara's light glimmered on bare flesh, revealing a figure curled up on the bed.  Kensuke stirred, then was up in an instant, seizing the dark bedside lamp and swinging it at Sanosuke's head.

 

"Yow!  Watch it, kid!"  Sanosuke caught Kensuke by the wrist and swung him securely into his arms so that he could detach the lamp from the boy's grip without either of them getting hurt.

 

"Sano?" Kensuke's voice queried groggily.

 

"Yeah.  We gotta make tracks."

 

"Cool.  Gimme a minute to wake up."  Kensuke tottered unsteadily to the floor and sat there rubbing at his face.  Kaoru was rather impressed that he had instinctively moved to defend himself before even being fully awake.

 

She went to crouch down next to him.  "Kensuke-kun?"

 

"What?"

 

"Um...."  She was not sure what to say.  She had just wanted to talk to him, to make sure he was all right, to keep him safe.  She resisted the urge to put her arms around him, since, for one thing, he was wearing nothing except a pair of boxers.  "You okay?"

 

"Yeah."  Kensuke looked around, blinking, seeing that Sanosuke had gone to look anxiously out the window, Mara was picking up his sword, and Mitsuko and the Suoh girls were inspecting his music CDs as Keiko looked on with an air of disbelief.  "Is Kenshin here?"

 

"Yes."  Everyone turned to find Kenshin stepping into the room, a bit difficult to see in the dim light.  "Kensuke, it's time.  We're going to the castle."

 

"Awesome," the boy responded matter-of-factly.  He stood up just in time to catch a set of clothes when Mara threw them at him.  "So you're kidnapping me?"

 

"If you like," Kenshin said, smiling a little as he made a signal to Sanosuke and then turned to the girls.  "Aya-dono, Suzumi-dono, we must move quickly."

 

Kensuke did not take _nearly_ as long to get ready as the girls had.  He was dressed in under a minute, took hold of his sword, spared only one brief glance at his CDs and video games, then made for the door.  Kaoru was quickest to follow him, so they were the two who ran into Kensuke's father in the hall.

 

"Kensuke?"

 

"Dad?"

 

They stood staring at each other for a moment.  Then Mr. Himura, in his pajamas with tousled hair, watched silently as the others all filed out of Kensuke's bedroom and stood there a bit awkwardly.

 

"Takashi," Kenshin finally said with a nod.

 

"Mr. O'Neill?" Mr. Himura said uncertainly.

 

"Kenshin is kidnapping me," Kensuke announced, grinning a little.

 

Kaoru rolled her eyes, but Mr. Himura said nothing for a moment.  He was looking at Mara, and at the fey light that streamed from her hands.  "...I suppose this has something to do with the power going out."

 

"Yes," Kenshin said quietly.  "Takashi.  Please wake Natsue-dono and come with us.  All three of you are in danger, and we must hurry."

 

Mr. Himura stepped forward until he was right in front of Kenshin, looking down at him intently.  Kaoru suddenly realized that the cross-shaped birthmark was clear on Kenshin's face.

 

"Your name isn't really 'O'Neill,' is it," Mr. Himura whispered.

 

"It is not."

 

Mr. Himura drew in a breath and let it out slowly.  "Can you...help Kensuke?" he asked.

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy said indignantly.

 

Kenshin smiled and held out his hand.  "All three of you, Takashi.  You belong with us."

 

Mr. Himura smiled back.  Then he began raising his hand to clasp Kenshin's, but at that moment, a woman's irritated, slightly frightened voice came wafting down the hall.  "Takashi-san?"

 

Mara rolled her eyes.  "Here we go...."

 

Natsue came into view, clutching a silky white robe around herself.  Her eyes widened as she took in the scene.  "What - what is the meaning of this?!" she sputtered.

 

"Kenshin's kidnapping--" Kensuke started to say, but broke off when Sanosuke elbowed him in warning.

 

Natsue's mouth dropped open.  " _Battousai_!"

 

"Natsue-san," her husband began, but she had no intention of listening to him.

 

"Mara," she snapped, "phone the police at once."

 

"I'm afraid I can't, ma'am," Mara said snidely.  "The power's out."

 

"What?!"  Natsue looked wildly around at the darkness, broken only by Mara's circle of fey light.  "What is the meaning of this?!"

 

"Natsue-dono, please, we have no time, that we do not.  You must come to the castle with us--"

 

"How _dare_ you," Natsue spat.  She was clutching her robe tightly as if for protection, her hair was mussed from sleep, her makeup gone, completely unarmed; yet there was something terrifyingly queen-like about her, and Kaoru found herself nearly breathless from a strange fear.  "How dare you show your face in this house!  You, worming your way into our circle, when you're nothing more than a criminal--"

 

"Ken-chan's not a criminal!" Mitsuko shouted.

 

"He would make a far better master than _you_ ever did!" Mara growled, her hands shaking.

 

"Mitsuko-dono, Mara-dono--"

 

"Lay off, Mom!" Kensuke was exclaiming, equally angry.  "I'd rather be with Kenshin, I'd rather be with _anyone_ , than here with you!  You can't stop me this time!  I'm _leaving_ , I'm never coming back here again--!"

 

Kaoru found herself taking the boy's hand, tugging at him until he looked angrily into her face.

 

" _What_?" he demanded.

 

"Don't talk like that to your mother," Kaoru said, not sure where the words were coming from, but realizing that she meant them.  "She's worried about you.  She...she loves you, Kensuke."  By the time she realized that she had forgotten to add an honorific, it was too late.  Natsue was raging, Takashi was trying to calm her, and Sanosuke was ushering Kensuke and the Suohs away as Kenshin tried to get the fae to leave as well.

 

"Natsue-dono," Kenshin called over his shoulder, even as he was blocking Mitsuko and Mara's way, "For your own safety and that of your family, this one strongly urges you to come with us."

 

Kensuke whirled.  "What?  Don't let her come, Ken-jii!  She'll ruin everything!"

 

"Kensuke!" his mother shouted.  "Come _back_ here at once!  If you go with that man, I will--!  I will--!"

 

"Ken-chan," Mara said urgently, "I don't want her to come.  Please, Ken-chan.  She's a descendant of Titania!"

 

There was a moment of near silence, broken only by Natsue's struggles to get past her husband's restraining arm.  Then Kenshin said quietly, "As is this one, Mara-dono.  We cannot help what we are."  He looked at Kensuke, unsmiling, and the boy quailed at the sight of his expression.  "Kensuke.  She is your mother.  Does her well-being mean that little to you?"

 

"...No," Kensuke said in a small voice.

 

Kenshin nodded, then glanced back at the Himuras.  "Natsue-dono, will you join us?"

 

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, her self-composure gone.  "If you take my son away, I will kill you!"

 

Takashi raised a hand.  "Go," he said urgently.  "I will look after her."

 

As they all hurried back through the dark halls, Kaoru moved close to Kenshin and asked nervously, "Who is Titania?"

 

"The Faerie Queen," he answered tightly.  Then, a moment later, "This one's grandmother."

 

"Your grandmother is a _fairy queen_?"

 

Kenshin took her hand, and her skin tingled pleasantly from the contact.  "It is a dubious honor, Kaoru-dono.  Please, hurry."

 

Kaoru swallowed and allowed him to pull her along.  "Kenshin...have I ever met her?"

 

"You have," he said shortly.  "And if this one has anything to say about it, you never will again, that you will not."

 

Which seemed to confirm the ominous feeling in Kaoru's heart at the sound of Titania's name.

 

The inside of the car was louder than ever as they drove home, and Kaoru was a little amazed at how the three boisterous teenagers could make their perilous midnight escape sound like a mundane road trip.

 

"MOM!  He changed the station, make him change it back!"

 

"Your music sucks!"

 

"Kensuke, don't speak like that to--"

 

"Ken-jiichan, make him change it back!"

 

"Stop whining to him like you always do!"

 

"As if _you_ don't, loser!"

 

"Who're you calling a loser, you boyfriendless h--"

 

"Hey, what's being single got to do with anything?!"

 

"MOM, DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE ALMOST CALLED ME?!"

 

"Emotional women...."

 

"Don't act so high and mighty, Mr. Loses-His-Cool-Every-Time-Someone-Calls-Him-Short!"

 

And so on.  At one point, Keiko switched off the radio and snapped at her daughters that if they did not shut up, she was going to ground them for a week; and Kenshin made it sternly clear to Kensuke that he was already in quite enough trouble and would be wise to stop disrespecting the young ladies at once.  By the time they reached the castle again, the car was filled with sulky silence.

 

This quickly wore off once they got inside.  The teenagers bounced around greeting people and exclaiming fondly over the castle furnishings.  Ten minutes later, the girls had crashed on a heap of cushions, and Kensuke had gotten into a lively argument with Saitô.  Kaoru did not notice this, since she herself had gone, yawning, immediately up to bed, and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

 

Takashi and Natsue arrived at the castle some time later.  Kaoru knew this because she was eventually awakened by the sound of Natsue shouting at her son.  From the sound of it, he had dyed his hair brick red.

 

Wincing, Kaoru crawled out of bed.  She spared a moment to look unhappily in the mirror at the dark shadows under her eyes, then wrapped a robe around herself and ventured out into the hallway.  Kensuke was hunched sulkily nearby, silent as his mother went off on him.

 

_*permanently incomplete*_


	53. Chapter 53

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Extra scene**

 

Everyone looked up in surprise as someone came into the room.  It was a rather outlandish-looking man, with fiery crimson robes, several sword hilts sticking out at seemingly random angles, and very long, bright blonde hair that stuck straight up but then drooped down halfway along like the fronds of a thirsty potted plant.

 

"Chou," Kenshin said in surprise.  "What are you doing h--?"

 

"I screwed up," the man said in a low voice.  The room immediately hushed as everyone gave him amazed looks.  Kaoru got the feeling that they were not accustomed to hearing this man say such things.  "I crossed over nearly ten years late - he's dying, Battousai.  He wants to see you."

 

In response, Kenshin heavily braced himself on the table next to him with one hand.  For a long time, he said nothing, and there was a dead silence in the room.  All eyes were fixed on him, or else wavered between him and, disconcertingly, Kaoru.  The expressions were stricken or grim, but Kaoru was too afraid to break this charged silence to ask what in the world was going on.

 

Then Kenshin suddenly raised his head with a little gasp, and came straight over to Kaoru.  He caught up both her hands and squeezed them tightly in his, looking so distracted that she was pretty sure he did not realize he was hurting her.  His expression was desperate as he whispered, "Kaoru, please.  Please come with us.  You can't...you can't not be there when he - goes.  He's missed you so much.  Please, for his sake, come with us."

 

"Who's...who's 'he'?"

 

Kenshin closed his eyes.  "This one can't...really tell you...but, please, believe me, you are very dear to him, as he once was to you.  This one cannot describe how much you will regret it if you - if you are not there at the end."

 

"Okay," Kaoru said cautiously.  The situation was bizarre as usual, but Kenshin looked so upset that there was no question about how important this must be.  She could badger him for explanations later, when he didn't look like he was about to lose it.

 

"...Ken-jiichan?"

 

Everyone turned to find Kensuke and the twins standing apprehensively in the doorway, Tsubame behind them.  "I thought I should fetch them," Tsubame explained softly.

 

Kenshin, so distressed that he forgot to thank her, wordlessly held out his hands.  The twins ran to him, Kensuke following behind more slowly.  "Girls," Kenshin said unsteadily.  "We have to go to Faerie.  It's Kenji."

 

"Is he dying?" Suzumi asked anxiously.

 

Kenshin swallowed.  "Yes."

 

Both girls gasped, and Kensuke cursed under his breath.  The four of them had clasped hands by now, and Kenshin turned and reached out to Kaoru.  "Kaoru-dono," he said awkwardly.  "You should be warned...we are going somewhere very strange - perhaps you ought to close your eyes while we make the passage."

 

"Believe me," she told him, "I am _definitely_ used to 'strange' by now."

 

He smiled weakly, gripping her hand hard.  "The most important thing is _not_ to let go of this one's hand, or you will be lost.  Do you understand?"

 

Kaoru gulped.  "Yes."

 

The others were clasping hands as well, almost everyone in the room and some newcomers besides, so that it was quite a crowd who crossed over together into an entirely different world.

 

[The passage; Kaoru's re-introduction to Faerie; Titania & her court's grieving.

 

When they reach the Seelie court, Seelie fae come flying out to cling to Kenshin in terror - their queen is weeping.  They go in to find Titania crying in the throne room.  When she sees Kenshin, she lifts up her glistening fingertips and yells, "The first tears...the first - and _they're not for you!_ "  She ends up crying on Kenshin's shoulder, changing her size to be smaller when she's unsatisfied with being draped over him.  Eventually she can't stand it anymore and howls off to make the skies roil.]

 

Kenshin did not pause at the doorway, but pushed straight on in.  He went immediately to the bedside and sat down carefully on the edge, leaning over the figure lying there and fixing all of his attention on the dying man.  "Kenji?"

 

For a long moment, there was only the sound of slow, labored breathing.  Then a voice, weak and slow, but full of good humor.  "...Heh.  Made it after all.  Beat up Chou for me, will ya?"

 

"...Kenji...."

 

"Don't go blubbering, geez.  Where's...the kids?  Are they here?"

 

Aya and Suzumi instantly hurried forward, one of them kneeling at the head of the bed and patting his thinning hair, the other carefully climbing over to sit against the wall and drape her legs over his in such a way that none of her weight touched him.  "We're here, Jiichan."

 

"Heheh...the last of my girls...oh, man, Suzumi, you look so much like your grandma...."

 

"Which one?" Suzumi asked with a watery smile.

 

"Heh, the second one.  Zel had _much_ longer hair."  With a sigh, the old man, Kenji, turned his head to the side and murmured in Kenshin's direction, "I miss Zel so much...Kairi and Zel both, I miss 'em so much...."  He reached out a quivering, mottled hand and grasped Kenshin's arm.  "Dad, I understand now.  Dad, _you have to find her_."

 

Kenshin smiled, very sadly.  "This one has found her, Kenji."

 

" _What_...?"

 

Kenshin took a deep breath.  "She's come, Kenji.  She's here.  Kenji, she remembers nothing, she's only a child in that strange new world, but she's come...to tell you good-bye."

 

The silence was thick, and then Kaoru was alarmed when several pairs of eyes turned to her, including those of the dying man.  She did not make a conscious decision, despite her confusion and amazement and apprehension, she simply walked forward and stood by the bed and took the thin, brittle hand that was held up to her.

 

Up close, she could see what Kenji looked like now, so long (from his perspective) after she had last seen him.  He was old, he was dying, but there was such a strength of expression on his face and in his eyes that it nearly took her breath away.

 

That expression was now turned to wonder as he gazed at her in delighted disbelief.  "It's you...you came back at last...I thought I'd never see you again."  He chuckled a wheezing laugh that turned into a fit of coughing.  At the end of it, he gasped, looking amused, "You haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you...it really has only been a few weeks for you, hasn't it."

 

Kaoru took a deep breath and forced herself to say what she felt she had to.  "K-Kenji-san...I am so, so sorry, but I - I mean, there's a lot I don't understand, I suppose you really do know me, but I - please, I don't remember...I--"

 

" _Kenji-san_?"  The astonishment quickly turned to an almost boyish grin.  "It's Kenji.  Geez, don't ever call me '-san' again.  And it's okay you don't remember.  Just shut up and hold my hand."  He squeezed her fingers weakly.  "Can you...can you please...stay with me until the end?  Even if you're freaked out, please don't run.  I couldn't stand it."

 

"I won't," she told him fiercely.  "I'm staying."

 

Kenji's face softened.  "Thanks...thank you so much...I'm so glad you're here."

 

Kaoru sat down, almost in Kenshin's lap, but she barely noticed because she was so busy staring at Kenji and feeling like her heart was breaking.

 

"Oh."  Kenji blinked and glanced restlessly around the room.  "Kensuke here?"  His eyes fell on the boy, who was standing back by the doorway, halfway behind Megumi.  "Oi, kid.  Get over here."

 

Kensuke shuffled over to the bedside and stood there awkwardly, staring at the floor.

 

Kenji grinned again.  "You afraid?"

 

Kensuke's head snapped up.  "No way!"

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

[After Kenji dies, Kaoru starts crying, grieving together with Kenshin.  She can't figure out why it hurts so much to lose a man she didn't even know, except that those twinkling eyes had been the same as those of the King Kenji I she met in Faerie while time traveling.  Yet that still doesn't explain why she feels like she lost a member of her own family.

 

"Who was he, Kenshin?"

 

"He was...."  Deep breath, "Kaoru-dono, you know that I am older than I look.  This one was made immortal many years ago.  His son, however, was given the choice to take a more natural path, which he did."

 

"Your _son_?!"

 

Kenshin just looks at her.

 

"Oh...Kenshin...I'm so sorry...."  Her eyes widen.  "Kenshin, your wife - does she know that Kenji's--  Does she know?"

 

Kenshin immediately whirled, hurried into his office, and shut the door with such a look of pain on his face that Kaoru was immediately wracked with guilt.  She had not meant to hurt him, yet she could tell that she had done so very badly.  "Oh, Kenshin...."]

 

**_The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: Immortality_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

**Epilogue**

**A/N:  Takes place when Enishi frees himself between _The Sleeping Prince_ and _Immortality_.**

 

o.o.o

Enishi squared his shoulders and marched into the Unseelie court to reclaim his crown, only to find his people waiting for him with no sign of the regent he had been preparing to fight.  They watched in unusual, uneasy silence as he paced down the center of the room.

 

There was a note on the empty throne, with his father's knife resting on top of it.

 

_Dear Enishi,_

_You_ don't _want to know how much I've invested, getting this sorry pack of brutes into shape.  Don't screw it up, Or Else._

_~Hiko Seijûrô, Master Swordsman, Wizard Unrivaled, Potter Extraordinaire_

 

Enishi smiled, carefully tucked the note away, and sat down on the throne.

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

Kaoru eventually unlocked her memories and remarried Kenshin to become his queen once more, Kenshin and his allies defeated Shishio once and for all, and everyone lived happily ever after.

 

_The end._

 

Author's Notes:  And Raberba girl finally got this series off her To Do List, yaaaay.

 

There are two reasons why I got the idea to do _Immortality_.  One was that skenshingumi commented that it didn't make sense for Kenshin to sort of kill Kaoru's mother and then never have that issue resolved.  It made _The Sleeping Prince_ a lot longer, and I had a hard time pulling off a happy ending (it was supposed to end joyfully with Kenji's revival, not with Kenshin  & Kaoru's reconciliation after a dark period in their relationship).  I also became unsatisfied with the ambiguously happy ending, and wanted to do a more focused KK going back to the courtship stage, yet with a different sort of conflict and with all the history still lurking in the background, ready to come to light.  It was also a problem that Kenshin lives forever young, and Kaoru ages and dies.  _Immortality_ solves that, though I am by no means advocating immortality hands-down over a normal lifespan.  Both of them have their perks and problems.

 

So, yeah, I'm never gonna write out the rest of this story properly.  I've edited the series as best as I can and am now filing it away in my Finished folder because I do not want it on my To Do List anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a five-part epic RuroKen fantasy AU series, but I never finished Part 2 ("Reclamation," which I got the idea for after writing later installments of the series) or Part 5 ("Immortality"). This is partially because I finally found my One True Fandom, which is not Rurouni Kenshin; and partially because crazy KK fans made me hate their pairing.
> 
> The OCD is...not letting me leave this unfinished...I actually did write a slapdash ending to "Immortality," but I want to wait to post it until I've put some sort of ending on "Reclamation" and cleaned up all my notes for this series.


End file.
